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23  WEST  MAIN  STPEET 

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CIHM/ICMH 

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Canadian  Institute  for  Historicai  IVIicroreproductions 


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1980 


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rrata 
to 


pelure, 
nd 


□ 


32X 


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6 

In  the  Acadian  Land 


NATURE  STUDIFS 


1 


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In  the  Acadian  Land 


NATURE  STUDIES 


BY 


ROBERT  R.  McLEOD 


BOSTON 
BRADLEE  WHIDDEN 

1890 


f 


140231 


Copyright,  1899, 

BY 

ROBEET  B.  MoLBOD 


DEDICATED 

TO 

WIFE 


'  n/'\{(fHi 


\  I 


INTRODUCTION. 


It  has  pleased  my  fancy  and  suited  my  purpose  to 
locate  tlu!  following  chapters  on  the  Molega  Road. 
To  find  it  one  must  go  to  the  northern  district  of 
Queens  County,  Nova  Scotia.  It  connects  a  small 
gold-mining  community  with  other  villages.  Only  a 
distance  of  six  miles  through  barren  and  brush,  and 
meadow,  past  fringes  of  old  woods,  and  swamps  of 
spruce  and  maple,  over  ledges,  two  brooks  and  a 
river.  A  very  commonplace  stretch  of  new  road,  but 
in  passing  over  it  several  thousand  times,  in  all  seasons 
and  all  weathers,  it  became  more  charming,  more  to 
be  seen,  and  learned,  and  admired.  It  would  be  a 
jjleasant  employment  for  me  to  fill  volumes  with  the 
unwritten  diaries  of  these  journeys.  However,  I  cele- 
brate them  with  this  little  book,  in  the  hope  some 
readers  will  become  interested,  and  thereby  life  en- 
larged and  curiosity  stimulated  to  know  more  of  the 
wonderful  world  so  easily  accessible  to  all  dwellers  in 
the  country,  and  that,  too,  without  money  and  without 
price. 

Robert  R.  McLeod. 


Brookfield,  Queens  County,  N.  S.,  1899. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

The  Woods - 

A  Butterfly    ...  oo 

26 

Oak  Apples      ...  on 

62 

^^^«=« 39 

Weasels   ....  .n 

Spiders      ...  -„ 

00 

A  Gold  Mine ^g 

Lunch  by  the  Brookside ^^ 

The  Cat-Owl  ...  oir 

00 

^=^***=»      •       ' .91 

^^"-          .          .          .         , gg 


sssemmiBBm 


^  CONTENTS. 

PAOE 

By  THE  RiVEHSIDB 105 

The  Red  Squirrel  .        .  „. 

114 

Birds. 

127 

MiCMAc  Indians       .        .  ,,, 

•         •  •         •  .  141 

Puff-balls,  Toadstools  and  that  Sort  of  Thing  .  150 


THE  WOODS. 


"  The  woods  were  made  for  the  hunters  of  dreamfl, 

The  brooks  for  the  fishers  of  soug  ; 
To  the  hunters  who  hunt  for  the  gunless  game 

The  streams  and  the  woods  belong. 
There  are  thoughts  that  moan  from  the  soul  of  the  pine 

And  thoughts  in  a  flower-bell  curled  ; 
And  the  thoughts  that  are  blown  with  the  scent  of  the  fern 

Are  as  new  and  as  old  as  the  world."  —  Fobs. 

ON  first  impression  one  might  say  that  there 
are  no  woods  worth  consideration  on  the 
Molega  Road.  It  is  quite  true  that  there  are  no 
trees  desirable  for  lumber  or  ship-timber ;  there 
are  no  dusky  forest-aisles,  but  for  all  this  lack- 
ing there  are  woods  crowded  with  objects  of 
interest,  and  replete  with  subtle  beauty.  An 
acquaintance  of  Turner,  the  great  landscape 
painter,  once  stood  by  him  while  he  sketched  a 
scene.  As  he  proceeded  to  complete  the  work 
his  companion  remarked, 

"  But,  Mr.  Turner,  I  do  not  see  in  the  land- 
scape the  beauty  you  have  put  in  your  picture." 

"  Don't  you  wish  you  could  see  it  ?  "  was  the 
artist's  reply. 


8 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


It  depends  upon  what  taste  and  line  of  nature 
that  one  brings  to  the  landscape  or  the  woods, 
whether  he  will  discover  beauty  therein.  If  the 
woods  are  only  to  be  looked  upon  as  an  assem- 
blage of  trees  serviceable  for  saw-logs,  ship- 
timber,  cordwood,  harrow-crotches  and  sled-run- 
ners, then  this  is  the  view  of  the  browsing  moose. 
He  knows  the  locality  as  a  feeding-ground  and 
shelter.  We  do  not  blame  him  for  not  looking 
deeper,  because  his  natural  capacity  goes  no 
farther.  But  man  has  finer  endowments,  that, 
if  rightly  cultivated  and  properly  used,  enable 
him  to  appreciate  the  beauty  and  diversity  and 
infinite  resources  of  nature.  Even  the  great 
works  of  men's  minds  and  hands  are  worthy  of 
study  and  admiration.  How  much  more  worthy 
are  the  products  of  the  master  mind  that  brings 
forth  suns  in  galaxies,  and  finds  room  in  the 
commonest  toadstool  to  exercise  a  skill  and 
power  that  passes  our  comprehension.  It  is 
the  proper  part  of  education,  at  home  and  in  the 
school,  to  draw  out  these  higher  qualities  of 
the  mind,  that  show  themselves  in  the  eager 
curiosity  and  enthusiasm  of  childhood  and  youth. 
Alas,  that  our  methods  are  so  well  calculated 
to  suppress  the  opening  buds  of  higher  promise ! 
Alas  that  the  "  life  star  "  that  was  born  with  us 
"fades  into  the  light  of  common  day  "  and  the 


J I ' 


THE  WOODS. 


9 


vision  by  which  we   were   attended    vanishes 
forever ! 

We  will  return  to  a  consideration  of  trees  and 
forests.  The  most  unpromising  feature  in  this 
direction  one  soon  comes  upon  after  entering 
the  road.  Here  and  there  among  the  hoop-pole 
wire  birch  are  dead  pines  —  victims  of  fires  that 
killed  them  many  yeare  ago.  They  are  too 
crooked,  and  crotched,  and  beset  with  strong 
limbs  and  knots,  to  serve  for  lumber;  so  they 
remain,  scattered,  gaunt,  bare  and  gray,  reach- 
ing out  long  naked  arms  defiantly  to  all  winds. 
They  are  merely  touched  with  decay  ;  only  the 
"  sap,"  or  last  growth,  an  inch  or  two  in  thick- 
ness, has  become  tattered  and  weather-stricken ; 
all  the  rest  is  sound  and  strong.  These  pines 
are  unlike  those  of  the  same  species  that  grow 
in  the  thick  forests  of  their  kind.  In  those 
conditions  there  is  hard  competition  for  room 
to  live.  There  thousands  of  seeds  of  pine 
sprout  and  begin  to  grow  within  a  small  area. 
It  is  simply  impossible  for  them  all  to  reach 
maturity,  or  even  arrive  to  a  height  of  a  few 
inches.  They  will  be  thinned  out  by  natural 
selection  ;  that  is  to  say,  those  that  are  best  fitttd 
to  continue  will  live.  The  advantage  may  be 
small,  a  mere  bit  more  light  or  a  better  rootage 
or  sounder  seed,  but  on  these  points  their  lives 


10 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


depend.  "  Many  are  called  but  few  are  chosen," 
—  that  is  the  universal  law  of  all  life.  The 
straightest  saplings  with  no  more  limbs  than 
are  needed  will  get  their  tops  into  the  sunshine 
and  their  roots  into  good  ground,  and  become 
great  trees,  smooth  and  clean.  The  closer  to- 
gether they  grow  the  straighter  they  will  be, 
and  less  knots  and  limbs.  Scrubby  specimens 
beginning  life  there,  are  doomed  to  decline  and 
meet  an  early  death.  In  the  forests,  all  are  shel- 
tered from  the  force  of  the  wind ;  they  stand  by 
each  other  right  loyally.  But  out  on  the  open 
barren  here  and  there  a  wind-wafted  pine  seed 
germinates  and  slowly  grows.  There  is  no 
lack  of  sunshine,  there  is  no  serious  competition  ; 
but  the  soil  is  not  friendly :  they  are  underfed. 
The  roots  grapple  with  obstructing  rocks,  fierce 
winds  wrestle  with  the  sturdy  branches  and 
resisting  trunk.  In  the  long  run  of  a  century 
such  a  tree  comes  to  plainly  show  the  marks  of 
its  struggles  with  the  elements.  The  grain  of 
the  wood  is  close,  and  hard,  and  twisted.  Where 
the  limbs  join  the  trunk  there  are  encircling 
bosses  formed  of  wood  wherein  the  grain  or  fibre 
is  wound  round  and  round,  in  sturdy  self-defence 
of  the  winds  ;  for  on  these  branches  are  the 
lungs,  and  thereby  hangs  the  life.  With  this 
understanding  about  them,  these  dead  scrubf 


THE  WOODS. 


11 


pines  are  not  without  a  living  interest,  and  fancy 
pleasantly  invests  them  with  more  than  the  eye 
can  see,  and  Science  lingers  over  them,  knowing 
right  well  they  can  teach  her  many  a  lesson 
worth  knowing. 

Our  Molega  Road,  woods,  are  but  the  strag- 
gling fringes  of  larger  tracts  that  run  back  into 
low  hills  and  swamps.  They  are  not  growths 
where  some  particular  species  lords  it  over  all, 
but  many  kinds  struggle  for  a  foothold.  Spruce 
and  fir,  birches,  oaks,  maples,  pines,  hemlock, 
and  beech  jostle  each  other  in  thickets.  These 
deeper  solitudes,  where  a  human  footstep  does 
not  pass  perhaps  in  years,  although  not  more 
than  a  couple  of  miles  from  houses,  are  the 
abodes  of  squirrels,  and  rabbits,  and  mice,  and 
wildcats,  and  foxes.  Birds  are  not  abundant  in 
such  retreats,  but  there  are  always  enough  to 
enliven  the  scene  with  their  presence. 

Leaving  local  considerations,  we  will  accept 
the  invitation  that  beckons  us  to  a  wider  discus- 
sion of  this  theme.  Let  me  remark  that  it  can 
be  shown  that  life  existed  on  this  earth  many 
hundred  thousand  years  before  there  was  a  tree. 
The  earliest  water-made  or  sedimentary  rocks 
have  TDreserved  the  records  of  those  times.  In 
them  are  the  remains  and  impressions  of  sea- 
weeds, licJiens,   club-mosses,  ferns    and  other 


12 


m  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


i 


forms  of  vegetation,  wherein  there  was  no  blos- 
som, and  therefore  no  fruit.  The  first  trees 
were  giant  club-mosses  and  ferns ;  their  trunks 
are  imbedded  in  coal  mines,  and  they  have  be- 
come coal.  Trees  that  bear  fruit  came  late  in 
the  world's  history.  They  are  products  of  evo- 
lutionary action,  whereby  creation  proceeds  to 
higher  and  more  complex  forms.  Our  trees  all 
have  pedigrees  that  run  back  into  the  lowest 
and  earliest  vegetable  life.  They  have  been  a 
weary  while  in  the  making,  as  we  reckon  time. 
They  have  all  been  elected  by  processes  that 
operated  without  sentiment,  and  permitted  only 
the  fittest  to  survive.  They  have  all  come  forth 
out  of  great  tribulation,  and  every  outward  feat- 
ure and  every  inward  disposition  and  tendency 
of  each  species  is  either  a  scar  of  conflict,  a  plan 
for  propagation,  a  vestige  of  ancestry,  or  a  taint 
of  on-coming  dissolution.  The  dimensions  when 
full-grown,  the  nature  of  the  grain,  the  peculiar- 
ities of  the  bark,  the  shape  of  the  leaves,  the 
contour  of  the  foliage,  are  all  what  they  are  be- 
cause of  the  experiences  of  the  species  and  its 
ancestries.  To  deny  this  statement  would  be  to 
ignore  the  plainest  truths.  If  any  reader  feels 
that  the  Creator  is  not  recognized  in  this  way 
then  let  him  consider  how  a  tree  is  not  called 
into  existence  to-day,  but  grows  slowly  from  a 


THE  WOODS. 


18 


seed;  but  that  is  the  manner  in  which  the 
Creator  operates.  Because  an  oak-tree,  for  in- 
stance, was  not  suddenly  called  into  existence 
loaded  with  leaves  and  acorns,  but,  through 
millions  of  years,  has  been  produced,  is  none  the 
less  a  creative  act. 

Our  vast  ages  are  God's  days.  The  computa- 
tions of  his  calendar,  are  not  to  be  fitted  into 
our  petty  almanacs.  The  philosophy  of  evolu- 
tion clothes  the  Deity  with  greater  grandeur 
than  the  theory  of  sudden  creations  permits.  It 
enables  us  to  see  not  only  the  plan  or  design  of 
the  structure,  but  its  upbuilding ;  not  only  the 
finished  product,  but  the  various  steps  of  its 
development.  We  are  not  merely  moved  to 
throw  up  our  hands  in  pious  admiration  of  the 
completed  object,  be  it  tree  or  man,  but  we  are 
moved  to  reverent  wonder,  or  religious  awe 
when  viewing  the  marvellous  transformations 
through  which  it  was  guided  to  completion. 
When  we  study  the  evolution  of  any  kind  of 
tree  we  are  soon  in  the  midst  of  a  wonderland 
of  captivating  charms.  We  thus  enter  the 
laboratory  of  nature ;  we  see  not  only  the  mov- 
ing wheels,  but  the  "life  within  the  vast  ma- 
chine ;  "  we  may  even  realize  a  real  presence 
in  leaf,  and  blade,  and  bloom,  making  and  un- 
making, till  — 


14 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


"  What  it  hath  wrought  is  better  than  hatSi  hetn; 
Slow  grows  the  splendid  pattern  that  it  plans 
Its  wistful  hands  between." 

An  evolutionist  may  fail  to  believe  in  God, 
and  there  are  irreverent  astronomers,  but  the 
God  of  an  evolutionist  is  not  a  shadowy  possi- 
bility, nor  an  absentee  deity  from  this  world, 
but  an  indwelling  presence,  not  identical  with 
material  nature,  but  no  material  world  apart 
from  him.     He  may  say  for  himself, 

"  I  am  the  mote  in  the  sunbeam,  and  I  am  the  bumimg  fum. 
•  Rest  here,'  whispers  the  atom ;  I  call  to  the  orb,  *  EoO  oo!' 
I  am  the  blush  of  the  morning  and  I  am  the  eveninif'*  bseeae 
I  am  the  leaf's  low  murmur,  the  swell  of  the  terriMt  «ea» ; 
I  am  the  breath  of  the  flute,  I  am  the  mind  of  mam ; 
Gold's  glitter,  the  light  of  the  diamond,  the  sesrpeui  s  Instxe 

wan; 
I  am  what  was,  will  be,  creation's  ascent  and  fall ; 
The  link,  the  chain  of  existence,  beginning  and  end  <otff  aHL* 

We  are  not  heedful  enough  of  our  trees. 
When  Abraham  bought  the  field  and  the  cave 
of  Machpelah  "all  the  trees  that  were  in  the 
field,  that  were  in  all  the  borders  round  about, 
were  made  sure  ;  '  and  he  did  not  cut  them  down, 
but  sat  under  their  shade,  where  aforetime  he 
had  entertained  angels.  A  treeless  world  would 
be  a  manless  world,  so  far  as  this  planet  is  <2on- 
cerned.  The  forests  can  do  better  without  man, 
but  we  could  not  do  without  them.    Notooljdo 


TEE  WOODS. 


15 


e 
i- 


we  depend  upoaa  tiBiem  for  wood  of  all  kinds,  but 
without  them  ^taitsans  and  springs  would  become 
dry,  i-ainfallfe  wiomM  quickly  run  away  and  evap- 
orate, where  Bor«r  tihe  water  is  retained  in  cool 
shades  and  filondj  led  to  the  sources  of  great 
rivers.  Witii  itBue  (disappearance  of  trees  would 
go  great  trooj*  •?>€  birds  that  feed  on  the  insects 
or  fruits  that  aat-  fft^ond  on  them. 

Trees  are  aimw.inted  with  the  history  of  our 
race  more  inlamaitely  than  any  other  natural 
feature  of  tL*  tt-aurtiu  They  have  played  an  in- 
dispensable pajt  in.  the  creation  of  mankind. 
If  there  had  Ijimel'  no  fruit-trees  there  would 
never  have  beeaa  evolved  an  animal  to  climb  them, 
and  help  himstM  to  the  concentrated  foods.  No 
great  adva'aoeioanit:  of  brain  could  be  reached  on 
other  lines.  Bm  the  hands  of  monkeys,  apes 
and  men  are  aM  ©f  the  same  pattern.  Human 
hands  were  CTiolTeii  before  our  ancestors  were 
human.  This  naanrellous  instrument  was  formed 
in  the  long  rmu  fioir  climbing,  and  swinging  from 
branch  to  braiieli.  for  breaking  the  shells  of  nuts, 
and  all  pmposiBf  for  which  apes  use  it  to-day. 
The  hand  wa^  iSu*  pioneer  of  our  race.  It  be- 
came the  serraffiut  of  the  brain.  Slowly  released 
from  the  dradgtfety  of  bearing  the  body,  it  en- 
tered the  seiTicjfr  q€  the  mind.  And  the  first  of 
our  ancestors  TwEiiO  used  his  fingers  to  fasten  a 


16 


IN  THB  ACADIAN  LAND. 


handle  to  a  stone  to  form  a  club,  inaugurated 
without  ceremonies,  the  opening  of  the  epoch, 
wherein  mind  was  to  measure  itself  with  muselea 
and  claws  and  win  the  dominion  of  the  world, 
and  analyze  the  light  of  sun  and  stars.  The 
first  men  were  forest  dwellers ;  their  homes  were 
amid  tropical  trees,  where  their  ancestor  had 
dwelt  for  unknown  ages.  The  Bible  has  it,  that 
Adam  was  placed  in  a  lovely  spot,  where  the 
Lord  God  had  made  to  g^w  every  tree  that  is 
"  pleasant  to  the  sight  and  good  for  food."  The 
sight  was  to  be  g^tified  as  well  as  the  appetite. 
The  love  of  beauty  was  considered  before  the 
demand  for  food.  "  Trees  pleasant  to  the  sight " 
shows  that  the  Creator  expected  a  responsive 
admiration  on  the  part  of  man.  He  was  not  to 
exclaim  first  of  all,  what  delicious-looking  berries ! 
but, what  beautiful  trees! — sentiment  first  and 
stomach  afterwards.  If  it  be  contended  that  wp 
cannot  live  on  sentimental  considerations,  I 
reply  that  neither  can  we  live  on  "  bread  alone." 
Eating  and  drinking  are  mere  coal-heaving  opera- 
tions, to  enable  us  to  make  a  voyage  of  life 
wherein  the  highest  qualities  may  come  to 
growth.  If  that  be  not  the  truth,  then  far 
better  would  it  have  been,  that  man  never  ad- 
vanced beyond  the  stage  where  the  satisfaction 
of  life  was  in  the  gratification  of  appetite.     The 


THE  WOODS. 


17 


man  who  goes  through  the  woods  and  sees 
nothing  in  them  but  lumber,  ship-timber,  and 
cordwood  has  missed  a  princely  birthright.  But 
people  find  a  charm  in  the  woods  who  are  not 
moved  by  beauty.  Even  city  born  and  bred 
men  and  women  discover  an  indefinable  some- 
thing in  the  unspoiled  forests  that  is  restful  and 
healing  to  body  and  mind ;  they  come  there  to 
a  patrimony  all  their  own ;  there  old  instincts 
are  satisfied. 

Says  the  poet,  "  The  groves  were  man's  first 
temples."  They  were  also  his  first  homes ;  there 
he  made  his  first  rude  roofs,  and  there  under 
the  lowly  thatch  the  family  life  began,  that  will 
not  be  complete  till  a  recognition  of  human 
brotherhood  silences  the  last  cannon  and  sheaths 
the  last  sword.  So  deep-rooted  and  mysterious 
has  been  the  love  of  this  old  home  that  men  of 
antiquity  everywhere  worshipped  trees,  and  it 
still  continues  in  India  and  other  Oriental  lands. 
The  sacred  Bo-tree  of  Anuradhopura,  in  Ceylon, 
is  visited  by  many  thousand  pilgrims  every  year, 
and  happy  is  he  who  bears  away  a  leaf  that  has 
dropped  within  his  reach.  During  two  thou- 
sand one  hundred  and  thirty  years  Buddhists 
have  held  this  to  be  a  sacred  tree,  grown  from  a 
scion  or  shoot  of  a  tree  under  which  the  "  Blessed 
One,"  the  founder  of  Buddhism,  contemplated 


18 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


and  wrought  out  by  prayer  and  penance  a  royal 
road  for  suffering  man,  and  more  than  three 
hundred  million  people  call  him  the  '^  Blessed 
One  '*  after  the  lapse  of  all  these  centuries. 
The  Bible  has  frequent  allusions  to  sacred  trees 
and  groves.  It  has  a  tree  of  knowledge  of 
good  and  evil,  on  which  grew  the  fateful  "  fruit 
of  finest  colors,  mixed  ruddy  and  gold."  It 
was  Abraham  who  "  planted  a  grove  in  Beer- 
sheba  and  called  there  on  the  name  of  the  Lord.'* 
Josephus,  the  Jewish  historian,  tells  us  that  the 
burning  bush  in  which  Moses  saw  Jehovah's 
presence  was  a  sacred  tree  before  that  event. 
It  was  a  natural  stick  that  Moses  had  in  his 
hand,  and  was  afterwards  used  for  miraculous 
purposes  as  a  magic  rod.  Hezekiah  cut  down 
the  sacred  groves,  and  his  great-great-grandson 
cut  down  another  growth  in  his  effort  to  root  out 
the  foreign  worship  that  clung  to  the  forests. 

The  Greeks  had  sacred  groves,  and  many  of 
their  gods  had  trees  sacred  to  them  in  popular 
estimation.  Thus  the  oak  fell  to  Zeus,  the 
greatest  of  all,  to  Apollo  the  laurel,  to  Athene 
the  olive,  etc.  The  ancient  Germans  worshipped 
in  groves.  The  Celtic  druids  o-f  France  and 
England,  Ireland  and  Scotland  had  their  reli- 
gious sanctuaries  in  the  deep  forests.  The  Norse- 
men, of  Norway  and  Sweden,  told  wondrous 


I 


THE  WOODS. 


10 


stories  of  a  mythical  ash- tree.  It  is  related  in 
their  sagas  that  "it  is  the  largest  and  best  of 
trees ;  its  branches  spread  all  over  the  world  and 
reach  up  over  the  heaven,"  and,  much  more,  that 
all  had  a  meaning  in  the  "  brave  days  of  old,"  to 
these  our  rugged  ancestors. 

It  is  by  no  accident  that  the  trees  and  groves 
and  woods  play  so  large  a  part  in  human  history, 
that  they  are  interwoven  with  myths  and  legends 
and  religious  rites.  Through  poetry,  ancient  and 
modern,  runs  always  the  same  echo  of  an  unwrit- 
ten forest  hymn.  The  Hebrew  prophets  extol  the 
beauties  of  the  cedara,  and  the  virtues  of  the 
"Balm  of  Gilead.*'  "And  the  glory  of  Lebanon 
shall  come  unto  thee,  the  fir  tree  and  the  box 
tree  together,  to  beautify  the  place  of  my  sanc- 
tuary." This  universal  sentiment  of  mankind 
finds  a  voice  in  the  poets  ;  Bryant  exclaims : 

"Father,  thy  hand 
Hath  reared  these  venerable  columns ;  thou 
Did'st  weave  this  verdant  roof ! " 

Longfellow  writes : 

"  There  is  a  spirit  in  these  quiet  woods ; 
With  what  a  tender  and  impassioned  voice 
It  fills  the  nice  and  delicate  ear  of  thought. 

Hence  gifted  birds 
Have  ever  loved  the  calm  and  quiet  shades ; 
For  them  there  was  an  eloquent  voice  in  all 
The  sylvan  pomp  of  woods." 


! 


20 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


In  her  sonnet  on  "  Trees "  Mrs.  Hemans 
writes  thus : 

"  And  ye  are  strong  to  shelter !  All  weak  things, 
All  that  need  a  home  and  covert,  love  your  shade  i " 

Says  Cowper  of  the  "  Woods  " : 

"  Meditation  here 
May  think  down  hours  to  moments.    Here  the  heart 
May  give  a  useful  lesson  to  the  head 
And  learning  wiser  grow  without  his  hooks." 

Emerson  quits  the  city  for  the  country  and 

celebrates  his  escape  in  a  poem,  in  part  running 

thus : 

"  Good-by,  proud  world,  I  'm  going  home ; 
I  go  to  seek  my  own  hearthstone 
Bosomed  in  yon  green  hills  alone ; 
A  secret  lodge  in  a  pleasant  land, 
Whose  groves  the  frolic  fairies  planned  — 
Oh,  when  I  am  safe  in  my  sylvan  home 
I  mock  at  the  pride  of  Greece  and  Rome ! 
And  when  I  am  stretched  heneath  the  pines, 
Where  the  evening  star  so  holy  shines, 
I  laugh  at  the  lore  and  pride  of  man. 
At  the  sophist's  school  and  the  learned  clan ; 
For  what  are  they  all  in  their  high  conceit, 
When  man  in  the  bush  with  God  may  meet  1 " 

Swinburne,  in  his  "  Palace  of  Pan,"  touches 
this  inspiring  theme  in  forceful  and  moving 
verse.  Here  follows  a  stanza  or  two  that  will 
indicate  their  quality  and  merit  to  those  who 


THE  WOODS.  21 

feel  the  m3rstic  charm  and  moving  beauty  that 
inspire  his  muse : 

"  Far  eastward  and  westward  the  sun-colored  lands 
Smile  warm  as  the  light  on  them  smiles ; 
And  statelier  than  temples  upbuilded  by  hands, 
Tall  column  by  column  the  sanctuary  stands, 
Of  the  pine  forest's  infinite  aisles. 

"  A  temple  whose  transepts  are  measured  by  miles, 
Whose  chancel  has  morning  for  priest. 
Whose  floor-work  the  foot  of  no  spoiler  defiles, 
Whose  musical  silence  no  music  beguiles, 
No  festival  limits  its  feast." 


In  a  true  sense  the  forests  are  sacred.  They 
may  well  have  been  "  God's  first  temples." 
They  are  not  to  be  wantonly  injured  nor  lightly 
destroyed.  They  have  come  down  to  us  from 
other  generations,  and  with  a  reasonable  use  of 
their  products  we  are  bound  in  duty  to  deliver 
them  to  our  successoi's.  Our  oldest  oaks  and 
hemlocks  were  no  mere  saplings  when  Colum- 
bus discovered  America.  It  takes  many  cen- 
turies to  produce  the  great  trees  in  our  own 
forests,  to  anchor  them  fast  by  the  gnarled  and 
tangled  clutch  of  sturdy  rootage,  to  drape  them 
in  bearded  lichens  till  they  stand  "  like  Druids 
of  eld,"  to  garnish  the  bark  with  mosses  and 
decorate  the  dead  with  the  finery  of  elfin  fungus 
and  wreaths  of  living  ferns.     Long  centuries  it 


22 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


took  to  win  the  confidence  of  the  daintiest  flowers 
and  draw  them  from  the  fierce  struggle  for  exist- 
ence with  contending  species  that  must  have 
the  glaring  sunshine  or  perish  from  the  earth. 
These  'forests  became  an  asylum  for  delicate 
forms  that  could  not  hold  their  own  outside 
with  coarser  species.  No  thistles  nor  docks,  nor 
daisies  nor  buttercups,  nor  any  of  their  clans 
ever  grow  and  bloom  in  leafy  mould  or  mossy 
tussock  of  our  deeper  woods.     Nestled  there 

"  Is  beauty,  such  as  blooms  not  in  the  glare 
Of  the  broad  sun.    The  delicate  forest  flower 
With  scented  breath,  and  looks  so  like  a  smile, 
Seems,  as  it  issues  from  the  shapeless  mould, 
An  emanation  of  the  indwelling  Life, 
A  visible  token  of  the  upholding  Love, 
That  are  the  soul  of  this  wide  universe." 


A  BUTTERFLY. 


"  So  much  to  learn !    Old  Nature's  way» 
Of  glee  and  gloom  with  rapt  amaze, 
To  study,  probe  and  paint  —  brown  earth, 
Salt  seas,  blue  hearens,  the  tilth  and  dearth, 
»  Birds,  grasses,  trees,  the  natural  things 

That  throb  or  grope,  or  poise  on  wings." 

THE  largest  of  our  butterflies  are  out  in 
great  force  to-day.  I  refer  to  yellow  and 
black  species,  mostly  yellow.  The  name  in 
books,  by  which  students  know  them  all  over 
the  world,  is  Papilio  turnus.  On  the  edges  of 
the  muddy  puddles  in  the  road  many  of  them 
are  settled  down  for  something  to  drink.  Not 
one  person  out  of  a  dozen  knows  how  they  do 
that.  If  you  take  one  of  them  in  your  hands 
and  examine  his  head  you  will  find  under  his 
chin  a  thi'eadlike,  close  coil.  If  you  take  a  pin 
or  a  needle  and  pull  it  out  the  length  will  be 
found  to  be  about  one  inch.  This  instrument 
is  hollow;  it  is  used  principally  for  sucking 
honey  from  blossoms.  But  there  is  no  accounting 
for  taste ;  and  here  are  these  beautiful  creatures 
so  delighted  and  intoxicated  with  the  washings 


i-i 


24 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


Jl 


-m  - 


of  the  road  that  one  may  pick  them  up  with 
thumb  and  fingers.  Here  are  a  half-dozen 
crowding  each  other,  their  wings  nervously 
trembling  with  excitement.  Among  them  is 
one  with  a  bit  taken  out  of  each  wing ;  the  gaps 
are  of  the  same  j^>attem.  It  is  the  work  of  a 
bird.  The  insect  was  seized  while  at  rest  with 
wings  together:  in  no  other  way  could  it  be 
done.  Birds  are  their  greatest  enemies.  One 
often  sees  them  with  tattered  and  broken  wings, 
where  they  have  escaped  as  by  the  skin  of  their 
teeth.  Any  of  our  insect-eating  birds  will  now 
and  then  make  a  dash  for  a  butterfly,  but  to 
actually  capture  one  is  not  an  easy  matter.  One 
often  hears  the  expression  a  "butterfly  exist- 
ence," meaning  a  life  of  gay  trifling,  flitting  here 
and  there  among  sweets  all  the  long  summer 
days  in  peace  and  security.  It  is  all  a  mistake. 
Nature  bestows  these  blessings  in  full  measure 
on  no  living  thing.  Struggle  and  warfare,  fight- 
ing and  dodging,  creeping  upon  and  being  crept 
upon,  are  what  we  find  in  every  department  ot 
life.  Our  pretty  yellow  and  black  butterfly 
does  not  find  nectar  in  every  flower  he  visits : 
other  hungry  insects  may  have  drained  it  of 
sweets.  Many  blossoms  are  so  made  that  he 
cannot  partake  of  their  treasures.  One  may  see 
them  try  this  one  and  that  one  during  a  half- 


A  BUTTERFLY. 


25 


up  with 
ilf-dozen 
ervously 
them  is 
the  gaps 
rork  of  a 
rest  with 
uld  it  he 
lies.    One 
ten  wings, 
in  of  their 
s  will  now 
fly,  hut  to 
atter.    One 
erfly  exist- 
litting  here 
ig  summer 
.  a  mistake, 
ill  measure 
xfare,  fight- 
being  crept 
»artment  ot 
butterfly 
Ir  he  visits : 
[ained  it  of 
,de  that  he 
ne  may  see 

[ring  a  half- 


hour,  only  to  be  unrewarded,  and  all  the  time 
obliged  to  keep  a  sharp  lookout  for  hungry 
birds.  It  takes  some  food  to  furnish  energy  to 
keep  up  their  flight.  They  will  gladly  help 
themselves  from  sap  that  issues  from  a  wounded 
tree,  and  some  nourishment  there  must  be  in 
the  muddy  water,  and  it  helps  them  over  a  hard 
time.  I  have  known  this  enecies  to  frequent 
the  drainage  of  a  distillery,  and  become  so  drunk 
they  could  not  fly,  and  the  birds  made  havoc  of 
them  in  great  numbei's,  till  their  wings  were 
scattered  like  autumn  leaves  over  the  treacher- 
ous ground  —  an  insect  tragedy  resulting  from 
the  same  agency  that  has  so  often  torn  and 
crushed  the  wings  of  human  hope  and  love. 

These  individuals  now  flying  here  and  there 
have  all  come  forth  out  of  great  tribulations  and 
hairbreadth  escapes.  It  is  but  early  summer 
yet,  and  before  the  ground  freezes  nearly  all 
will  have  been  eaten,  or  fatally  wounded.  The 
battered  remnant  will  perish  of  cold,  and  not 
one  of  them  will  see  the  sun  of  another  summer. 
Let  us  look  a  little  further  into  this  matter. 
Each  female  will  lay  not  less  than  two  hundred 
green  eggs.  These  will  be  placed,  one  here, 
and  another  there,  on  leaves  of  trees  —  apple, 
plum,  cherry,  birch,  willow,  etc.  In  two  weeks, 
if  nothing  serious  has  happened  to  them,  they 


26 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


will  hatch.  Now  the  serious  thing  that  may 
happen  is  this :  a  very  small  fly  with  a  very 
large  concern  for  her  future  brood,  thinks  she 
knows  a  good  thing  when  she  sees  it,  and  if  she 
finds  these  eggs  there  will  be  no  butterflies  ever 
come  from  them,  but  her  own  kind  of  flies  in- 
stead. She  is  provided  with  a  sharp  hollow 
tube  that  connects  with  the  eggs  in  her  own 
body.  She  thrusts  it  into  the  butterfly's  egg, 
and  sends  through  a  dozen  or  more  of  her  own, 
and  then  serves  others  in  the  same  way.  Now 
if  this  event  does  not  happen,  and  no  other  acci- 
dent befalls  them,  the  butterfly's  egg  will  hatch, 
and  out  of  it  will  come  a  tiny  brown  caterpillar, 
and  then  the  battle  begins  in  earnest.  Enemies, 
from  ants  to  birds,  are  looking  for  him.  The 
chances  to  ever  reach  the  butterfly  stage  are  not 
one  to  one  hundred,  but  he  is  bound  to  make 
trial  for  that  chance.  He  begins  to  gnaw  the 
leaf  and  spin  a  bit  of  web  carpet  to  stretch  him- 
self upon  when  not  at  work  eating.  As  he 
feeds,  his  skin  becomes  tighter,  and  in  four  days 
it  bursts  open  and  he  is  larger  and  a  little 
changed  in  color.  In  five  days  more  he  has 
become  too  big  for  his  jacket  and  moults  again. 
Then  he  is  about  one-half  inch  in  length,  quite 
green  with  the  exception  of  a  little  marking ; 
this  color  like  the  leaf  is  a  great  advantage, 


A  BUTTEBFLY. 


27 


now  that  he  is  quite  large  enough  to  be  seen. 
If  he  were  red  or  black  on  a  green  leaf  the 
chances  of  escaping  would  be  very  much  less. 
The  larger  he  grows  the  greater  his  danger. 
But  all  this  was  understood  when  two  hundred 
eggs  were  laid  —  the  number  was  in  proportion 
to  the  enemies  and  risks  to  be  run.  In  four 
days  more  the  skin  gives  out  again,  it  is  sloughed 
off  and  he  is  an  inch  in  length,  green,  with  a 
brown  head  and  dash  of  yellow  in  dots,  with  a 
very  few  short  hairs.  The  moulting  business  is 
almost  complete,  and  still  he  is  a  long  way  from 
a  butterfly.  It  has  been  a  dangerous  journey 
thus  far,  helplessly  hanging  to  a  leaf  in  the 
presence  of  enemies,  but  if  he  were  to  take  an- 
other step  out  in  the  open  all  would  be  over 
with  him.  If  he  moulted  and  showed  his  sprout- 
ing wings,  yellow  against  the  green  leaves,  a 
bird  would  be  blind  that  did  not  see  him.  When 
he  is  a  butterfly  there  will  be  no  more  eating 
solid  food  with  jaws,  but  it  will  be  daintily 
sipped  through  a  delicate  tube.  To  try  to  live 
outside  while  such  a  change  was  being  made 
would  end  in  starvation  if  death  came  in  no 
other  manner.  Old  Nature  knows  the  way ! 
So  this  thing  must  be  done  in  a  sealed  up  cham- 
ber. No  eye  shall  look  in  upon  the  mystery  of 
transformation  by  which  this  lowly  grub  is  to 


I' 


..  -  J>!.  ;39HBI 


28 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


become  a  winged  beauty  caressing  tl»  cloyer 
and  lilacs,  and  slanting  down  the  sanbeams  on 
gilded  vans.  Before  the  next  step  Is  taken  the 
caterpillar  makes  himself  fast  by  a  loop  of  web 
to  a  leaf,  or  leafstalk,  or  twig,  and  becomes  by 
another  change  a  chrysalis  —  a  hard  shell  with 
a  blunt  end  for  the  head,  outlines  of  cases  under 
which  the  wings  will  grow,  and  all  of  a  doll  old- 
gold  color,  Avith  the  tail  end  fastened  by  web  to 
the  leaf  or  twig,  looking  like  an  Indian  pappoose 
on  its  mother's  back.  It  has  now  to  nm  the 
risks  of  hungry  birds  for  many  months  till  the 
next  spring.  More  than  that,  there  are  small 
flies  all  fitted  with  hollow  drills,  to  make  holes 
in  this  chrysalis,  and  through  these  diiHs  shoot 
their  eggs  into  what  promised  to  become  a  but- 
terfly, and  under  the  new  arrangement  will 
only  furnish  food  for  another  insect*  Such  are 
Nature's  ways,  and,  begin  where  we  will  to  in- 
vestigate her,  she  presently  leads  us  ioto  worlds 
of  wonders,  where  the  wisest  of  mortals  is  a 
stranger. 

One  might  conclude  that  the  object  of  Nature 
was  to  create  a  beautiful  butterfly  to  eojoy  itself 
playing  hide-and-seek  among  the  flowers,  sipping 
their  sweets  and  bathing  in  the  sunshine.  One 
might  think  that  these  crawling  caterpillars  are 
only  steps  to  this  beautiful  and  delightful  end. 


A  RUTT2BFLY. 


98 


The  hard  facts  Aa>  aot  agree  with  such  conclu- 
sions. There  hirt  butterflies  that  never  feed  at 
all,  because  tlktr  ktve  no  proper  mouth  for  the 
purpose  ;  they  aasaiM'^  and  lay  eggs,  and  starve  to 
death  in  a  few  dsajs^  Moths  are  mere  nightflying 
butterflies,  and  aJuere  are  moths,  like  the  well- 
known  gypsy  mkott&v  ol  which  the  female,  a  beau- 
tiful creature,  laj»  her  egga  a  few  hours  after 
coming  out  of  Iht  chrysalis,  and  lingers  near 
them,  and  dies  m  a  few  days  without  feeding, 
although  she  lias  ifiie^  means  to  do  so.  Tlie  males 
live  on  a  much  loioger  time. 

There  is  a  speeMs*  of  moths  to  be  found  in  this 
Province  of  wiiiiielij  the  female  never  has  wings, 
but  lays  eggs  tSwft  same,  while  the  male  is 
decked  out  in  pireiasy  buff-brown  wings,  enjoying 
life  in  moth  fatBuicm.  This  has  no  common 
name.     It  is  kia<yanniaa  Orygia  leucoatigma. 

Again,  there  insTt  e^erpillarH  that  actually  lay 
eggs  without  naaaimi^T  and  these  eggs  produce 
other  caterpillaLTS  uliafi  produce  butterflies.  This 
is  evidently  a  laaorsre  to  keep  from  being  utterly 
extinguished  In-iiiear  enemies.  Then,  there  are 
moths  that  nexfir  laaate  and  yet  produce  eggs 
that  are  fertile,  Ifwni  the  caterpillars  are  apt  to  be 
mostly  all  of  oi^  sfx- 

There  are  a  gsieaitt  many  small  flies  that  drill 
holes  in  the  tj^>  juaxi  in  the  chrysalis  of  butter- 


I 


4*- 


*1 


ao 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


I, 


flies  and  moths,  and  by  so  doing  they  keep  down 
these  crawling  pests,  that  would  otherwise  give 
us  much  more  trouble  than  they  do.  In  New 
England,  and  esijecially  Massachusetts,  there  is 
a  small  moth  that  was  brought  from  Europe 
thirty  years  ago  by  a  French  naturalist  in  order 
to  make  some  experiments  about  its  ability  to 
spin  web  useful  for  making  silk.  Three  or  four 
of  these  insects  escaped  in  the  town  of  Medford. 
In  ten  years  they  began  to  make  trouble,  as  their 
caterpillars  fed  on  almost  all  kinds  of  leaves  and 
they  gained  in  numbers.  In  twenty  years  they 
were  veiy  destructive  in  Medford  and  had  ex- 
tended in  small  numbers  to  other  localities,  and 
there  was  a  fight  kept  up  by  owners  of  orchards, 
and  gardens,  and  woodlands ;  but  still  the  enemy 
increased.  Nine  years  ago  the  State  Legislature 
was  petitioned  to  find  some  means  to  abate  this 
scourge.  Twenty-five  thousand  dollars  was 
voted  to  be  expended  in  fighting  this  enemy. 
The  next  year  fifty  thousand  dollars  was  voted  for 
this  war  fund,  and  the  battle  raged  with  fire  and 
poisons  and  tar,  but  the  caterpillars  continued 
to  increase. 

In  1892  the  Legislature  voted  seventy-five 
thousand  dollars  for  the  annual  **  Gypsy  Moth 
Fund,**  as  it  was  called.  In  1893  it  was  infesting 
thirty  cities  and  towns,  and  lapng  waste  the 


11 
i! 


A  BITTTEBPLY. 


81 


country,  and  the  Legislature  voted  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars  to  carry  on  the  war.  During 
1892  and  1893  the  committee  in  charge  of  the 
work  asked  for  much  more  than  they  received. 
In  1894  one  hundred  thousand  was  again  voted. 
Then  it  was  considered  of  national  importance, 
and  Congress  was  petitioned  to  come  to  the 
aid  from  the  National  Treasury,  and  forty  thou- 
sand dollars  was  voted.  In  1895  Massachusetts 
voted  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  for 
that  year,  and  three  hundred  men  were  constantly 
in  the  fight  with  these  caterpillars,  eggs,  and 
moths.  Since  that  date  the  sum  has  increased, 
and  now  the  Legislature  is  petitioned  for  about 
five  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  be  expended  in 
the  expectation  that  this  pest  may  be  got  under 
so  it  may  be  kept  there  for  a  few  thousand  a  year. 
I  tell  this  story  to  show  how  easy  it  is  for 
even  a  single  species  of  insect  to  destroy  all 
crops.  It  is  only  by  the  help  of  birds  and  other 
insects  that  destroy  their  eggs  and  caterpillars 
that  man  is  able  to  live  on  this  earth.  If  the 
gypsy  moth  had  not  been  opposed  wholesale 
there  would  not  be  a  living  orchard  or  green  bit 
of  woodland  in  New  England  to-day,  and  it 
would  be  useless  to  plant  a  crop. 


OAK  APPLES. 


"  It  is  impoBiible  to  walk  across  so  much  as  a  rood  of  tho  natural 
earth,  ■with  mind  unagitated  and  rightly  poised,  without  receivlug 
strength  from  some  stone,  flower,  leaf  or  sound,  nor  without  a  sense 
as  of  dew  falling  on  you  out  of  the  sky."  —  Da.  Samuel  Johnson. 

AS  I  jogged  along  this  cool  autumn  morning 
more  than  once  I  pulled  up  my  faithful 
old  horse  and  got  out.  He  had  by  long  experi- 
ence become  acquainted  with  my  habits,  as  I 
had  his.  He  did  not  approve  of  my  liking  to 
investigate  so  many  things  by  the  wayside. 
His  preference  was  to  go  straight  on  to  the  end 
of  the  journey,  and  he  followed  me  with  his 
eyes  reprovingly  till  I  took  my  seat  again. 
This  morning  seemed  a  favorable  time  to  col- 
lect some  objects  of  interest.  There  were  plenty 
of  them,  and  well  worth  study  and  observation. 
I  could  have  had  empty  bird's-nests,  telling 
much  of  the  little  builders.  I  could  have  had 
toadstools  of  various  species,  all  of  them  with 
curious  histories  and  habits;  but  coming  upon 
some  "  oak  apples,"  I  filled  a  pocket  with  the 


' 


OAK  APPLES. 


88 


hollow  things  and  went  my  way,  and  now  we 
will  discuss  them. 

I  recall  that  when  I  was  a  boy  it  seemed 
singular  to  me  that  such  a  plump,  tight,  invit- 
ing looking  fruit  with  a  nice  name  was  clearly 
no  apple  at  all,  and  utterly  unfit  to  eat.  When 
broken  open  it  proved  to  be  nearly  all  shell. 
In  the  centre  of  it  was  a  spidery  looking  lump, 
hard  and  woody.  If  some  person  had  come 
forward  and  explained  the  difficulty  how  gladly 
would  he  have  been  received,  but  the  aptitudes 
and  eager  curiosity  of  children  are  but  little 
heeded,  and  if  all  taste  and  talent  are  not  either 
quenched  by  open  rebuke  or  servile  drudgery  it 
is  because  some  finer  traits  can  survive  even  the 
most  unfriendly  treatment. 

We  will  now  cut  open  this  apple  and  take 
out  this  spider-like  core  and  carefully  open  it. 
Separating  it  into  several  pieces  we  find  three 
or  four  small  grubs,  alive  and  active.  The  first 
question  is  to  learn  how  they  got  there.  There 
are  no  holes  through  which  they  entered.  They 
were  hatched  from  eggs  wliere  they  are.  Now 
there  are  flies  that  lay  their  eggs  in  apple 
blossoms  just  where  the  tiny  apples  begin,  and 
these  hatch,  and  hence  the  worms  in  the 
apples. 

The  same  takes  place  in  other  fruit.     Here 


I 
1 


84 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


6? 


in  the  oak  apple  we  have  in  the  grubs,  the 
young  of  a  small  fly.  The  female  has  a  hollow 
drill  connected  with  the  eggs  in  her  body.  Slie 
is  a  gall-fly,  and  the  proper  name  of  these 
apples  is  gall.  When  the  season  comes  around 
the  gall-fly  finds  an  oak-tree,  and  in  a  tiny  grow- 
ing leaf  or  twig  she  drills  a  hole  and  shoots  into 
it  her  eggs,  three  or  four  in  number,  and  then 
repeats  the  operation.  Now  we  may  use  a  needle 
and  prick  a  bud  or  leaf,  and  do  what  we  will  in 
that  way  there  is  only  a  slight  scar  left ;  but  the 
work  of  that  drill,  finer  than  a  cambric  needle, 
has  changed  the  mode  of  growth  —  apparently 
poisoned  the  delicate  cell-structure.  Quickly 
following  the  wound  the  swelling  begins,  and 
the  result  of  it  is  this  globular  shell,  with  kernel 
at  the  centre  of  very  rich  food  for  grubs,  much 
more  nutritious  than  the  leaves  of  the  oak,  and 
there  is  nothing  for  them  to  do  but  eat  and 
grow  fat.  This  is  followed  up  with  occasional 
moulting  of  the  old  skin,  till  another  stage  is 
reached,  when  they  become  pupae,  do  themselves 
up  in  tiny  cases,  and  wait  for  wings  and  other 
organs  like  their  parents.  When  this  is  done 
they  gnaw  out  of  their  prison,  and  join  their 
kind  in  the  outside  world.  The  fly  is  about 
^  one-quarter  of  an  inch  in  length.  It  is  not  dif- 
ficult to  get  them  by  plucking  the  green  apples 


h 


OAK  APPLES. 


S5 


and  keeping  them  in  a  box  till  they  come  out. 
Now  there  are  very  many  species  of  gall-flies, 
but  each  kind  has  its  own  tree,  or  shrub,  or 
plant  in  which  the  eggs  are  placed.  Here,  then, 
we  have  in  this  oak  gall  a  most  curious  and 
interesting  object.  It  turns  out  to  be  an  in- 
habited house  provided  with  food  for  tiny  help- 
less creatures,  that,  so  far  as  we  can  see,  serve 
no  useful  purpose,  and  have  no  great  enjoyment 
of  existence.  But  the  fact  is  that  here  is  a  well- 
devised  plan  in  their  interest.  The  mother,  a 
small  four-winged  fly,  is  provided  with  an  egg- 
depositor  and  drill  combined,  most  delicate  and 
ingeniously  contrived  and  constructed  for  its  pur- 
pose. This  tool  would  be  of  no  value  without 
intelligence  to  use  it,  and  therefore  we  have  in 
this  mere  mote,  the  faculty  to  distinguish  an 
oak-tree  from  others,  and  the  skill  to  get  the 
drill  in  place  and  make  a  proper  use  of  it  when 
there.  Shall  we  go  further  and  say  that  she 
knows  the  eggs  she  never  saw  will  produce 
grubs  that  must  have  food  and  shelter  ?  If  she 
does  know  that,  then  is  she  endowed  with  some 
higher  faculty  than  we  are ;  if  she  does  not, 
then  she  is  a  machine,  acting  because  she  must 
and  not  because  she  wills.  If  we  flinch  about 
accepting  that  view,  we  are  at  once  driven  to 
the  same  thing  with  the  oak-tree  that  becomes 


I 


I 


I 


86 


IN   THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


a  party  to  this  transaction,  and  helps  to  carry 
out  the  plan ;  and  we  cannot  well  hold  that  the 
tree  exercises  any  will  in  the  matter,  but  it 
must  do  the  proper  thing  when  operated  on,  or 
the  drill  is  in  vain.  This  tool  implies  the  help- 
ful co-operation  of  the  tree ;  with  that  under- 
standing it  was  constructed,  and  the  oak  lives 
strictly  up  to  the  terms,  and  becomes  foster- 
mother  to  the  brood  of  an  insect,  that  wounds 
and  poisons  the  wound  to  start  the  apple  or 
gall.  This  is  the  golden  rule  in  practice  Avhere 
one  would  least  expect  to  find  it.  Say  the 
Hindoo  scriptures : 

"  Be  like  the  sandal-tree  that  perfumes  the 
ax  that  cuts  it ;  but  the  oak,  with  injured  cells, 
pierced  by  this  Cynips  confluena^  proceeds  at 
once  to  build  a  neat,  safe  house,  and  stores 
around  the  eggs  a  concentrated  food,  and  intro- 
duces a  bitter  element  into  the  apple  shell,  to 
make  it  distasteful  to  birds  and  squirrels,  and 
grows  horns  and  legs  in  he  cradle  of  the  grubs 
in  order  that  no  prying  jay  or  woodpecker  shall 
try  to  swallow  it." 

Here  we  are  dealing  with  small  objects  as  we 
are  wont  to  measure  them,  but  they  are  deeply 
involved  with  great  questions.  Saturn  and  his 
rings  and  moons  in  all  their  stately  grandeur 
are  not  invested  with    the  reverent    interest 


OAK  APPLES. 


37 


awakened  by  this  tiny  gall,  that  we  crush  in 
our  fingers,  or  pass  unheeded  in  our  walks 
abroad. 

We  are  not  yet  at  the  end  of  our  story.  If 
we  collect  a  dozen  or  more  of  these  oak  apples, 
and  keep  them  in  boxes  till  the  flies  appear  — 
and  that  may  be  over  winter  in  some  instances 
—  we  will  be  quite  sure  to  find  that  there  are 
at  least  two  species,  looking  very  much  alike  to 
untrained  eyes.  One  of  these  is  a  gall-fly,  the 
other  is  a  guest-fly  —  he  is  an  uninvited  guest  of 
the  owners  of  the  gall.  He  is  the  offspring  of  a 
mother  that  could  drill  a  hole  and  lay  her  eggs 
in  a  gall  after  it  was  started,  but  had  no  power 
to  begin  one  on  her  own  account.  She  prob- 
ably lacks  the  poison  organ  for  such  an  opera- 
tion. Here,  then,  is  a  creature  equipped  with  a 
fine  arrangement  to  take  advantage  of  the  co- 
operation of  the  oak -tree  and  gall-fly,  and  make 
them  provide  for  her  brood.  There  seems  to  be 
a  moral  disorder  in  nature  :  there  is  no  sense  of 
fair  play ;  pirates  and  plunderers  and  parasites 
abound  everywhere.  These  guest-flies  are  a  nu- 
merous race,  living  always  as  young  ones  on'tlie 
ready-made  galls,  or  often  grubs  of  the  gall- 
makers.  \ 

Not  without  some  service  to  mankind  are 
these  oak  galls.    They  have  long  been  used  in 


'    IS 


T 

■if 


T 


88 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


the  preparation  of  the  best  inks,  and  still  are  an 

article   of  commerce.     They  are  produced  in 

Asia  Minor  in  a  species  of  oak.     Shakespeare 

says: 

"  Thither  write,  my  queen, 
And  with  mine  eyes  I'll  drink  the  words  you  send, 
Though  ink  be  made  of  gall." 


J 


I 


■3 


HARES. 


J  ^ 


i*.  tv 


«  Thx  origin,  history,  and  structure  of  animals,  their  habits,  senses, 
and  Intelligence,  o£Fer  an  endless  field  of  interest  and  wonder."— 
Lubbock. 

ALL  the  year  through  rabbits,  or  properly 
hares,  are  common  objects  on  the  Molega 
Road.  In  the  sprhig,  when  the  grass  starts  up 
by  the  wayside,  there  is  a  standing  invitation  to 
these  little  creatures  to  come  and  partake  of  this 
new  bounty  of  nature.  No  doubt  it  is  a  very 
delicious  change  from  the  steady  diet  of  twigs 
and  bark.  They  have  become  very  tame,  and 
do  not  run  away  at  the  approach  of  teams,  but 
merely  take  a  few  leaps  to  one  side.  I  some- 
times see  them  in  playful  mood,  bounding  here 
and  there  about  each  other  like  lambs.  Mornings 
and  evenings  are  the  best  times  to  find  them,  for 
they  do  not  often  venture  from  their  "  forms  " 
or  hiding  places  later  in  the  day.  The  hare  has 
had  his  part  in  superstitious  whims  of  people. 
It  is  a  wide-spread  belief  in  many  portions  of 
Europe  that  witches  transform  themselves  into 
hares,  and  it  is  generally  considered  a  bad  sign 


I- 

i- 


(n 


40 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


f    <i 


I        5 


!   1 


to  meet  one.  "  Melancholy  as  a  hare  "  is  the 
way  Shakespeare  has  it,  and  he  is  always  in  touch 
with  the  common  people  and  all  their  sayings. 
After  the  little  fellow  was  dead,  then  there  was 
a  better  opinion  of  him,  as  often  turns  out  with 
mortal  man.  The  great  Francis  Bacon  tells  us 
with  due  solemnity  that  "  The  brains  of  hares  are 
very  serviceable  for  strengthening  the  memory 
and  brightening  up  the  faculties,"  when  made 
into  a  palatable  dish.  If  there  is  any  truth  in 
hii:.  assertion,  he  should  have  strongly  recom- 
m-L  Aied  a  liberal  diet  of  that  sort  of  thing  to 
most  people.  Another  old  English  writer  gravely 
tell,  us  •lit  "  The  knee-bone  of  a  hare  taken 
out  when  the  animal  is  alive,  and  worne  about 
the  necke,  is  excellente  against  convulsive  fits." 
There  was  scant  consideration  for  the  poor  brute 
in  that  remedy.  To  carry  in  the  pocket  the 
right  foot  of  a  hare  was  once  considered  a  fine 
remedy  for  rheumatism.  It  might  answer  such 
a  purpose.  Horse-chestnuts,  or  a  potato  carried 
in  a  pocket  for  rheumatism,  have  worked  like 
charms,  and  that  is  the  virtue  of  the  cure,  — 
their  faith  has  made  them  whole.  One  can 
see  now,  in  1899,  the  fore  feet  of  rabbits, 
mounted  in  silver,  and  offered  for  sale  in  shop 
windows  of  Boston  as  charms  much  in  use  by 
smart  people. 


-a 


HARES. 


41 


But  we  will  return  to  Molega  Road  and  its 
attractions.  In  the  winter  twilight  one  may  see 
them  quietly  browsing,  or  bounding  here  and 
there  as  noiseless  as  ghosts.  They  have  a  habit 
of  taking  a  course  through  the  bushes  where 
there  is  the  least  obstruction  of  limbs,  and  thus 
beat  out  paths  through  the  moss,  and  in  the 
winter  through  the  snow.  They  prefer  to  run 
in  these  paths,  and  turn  out  here  and  there  to 
feed.  Boys  are  aware  of  their  habits,  and  easily 
snare  them  by-  placing  a  small  pole  across  the 
path  and  tying  a  wire  snare  to  it,  and  sticking 
some  brush  cunningly  on  each  side  of  the  snare 
to  hold  it  steady,  and  bar  up  all  other  ways  but 
the  one  through  the  snare.  Now  Bunny  could 
jump  over  the  pole  with  the  greatest  ease,  but 
he  will  not ;  he  stops,  lays  his  ears  well  back, 
and  carefully  puts  his  head  into  the  snare  as  if 
he  were  bent  on  committing  suicide.  In  a 
moment  the  fatal  noose  is  tigliten3d  about  his 
neck,  he  jumps  here  and  there  in  the  most  frantic 
fashion,  and  ends  by  strangling.  The  owner  of 
the  snare  finds  him  in  the  morning,  a  few  feet 
from  the  path,  all  "  drawn  up  "  and  frozen,  even 
to  his  eyes.  Sometimes  the  snare  is  tied  to  a 
bent  sapling,  and  the  rabbit  in  his  struggle  sets 
it  free,  only  to  find  himself  dangling  in  mid-air. 
Either  his  meat,  or  his  fur,  or  both,  is  the 


I 


I  ; 


42 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


i:    > 


temptation  to  take  his  life,  and  tlie  average 
boy  has  no  "  bowels  of  compassion  "  for  wild 
animals.  The  boys  seem  to  have  all  had  the 
apostolic  vision,  and  heard  the  command,  **  Rise, 
Peter,  kill  and  eat." 

Hares  are  not  very  intelligent  creatures  any- 
where, and  our  species  is  no  exception  to  the 
rule.  The  fact  is  that  his  manner  of  life  is 
against  him.  For  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
years  he  has  not  done  anything  to  add  a  brain 
cell  to  his  slender  outfit.  The  fossil  remainji  of 
this  family  are  found  in  ancient  rocks  of  the 
Tertiary  Time,  in  Dacotah  and  elsewhere.  He 
has  changed  somewhat  in  structure  since  then, 
but  his  teeth  indicate  that  his  feeding  haUts 
have  not  changed.  In  the  many  divisions  and 
subdivisions  of  the  quadruped  mammalian  life, 
that  come  about  largely  through  struggle  for 
existence,  the  hare  family  was  evolved,  or  slowly 
formed,  with  adaptations  to  eat  and  thrive  upon 
food  that  existed  in  plenty,  and  for  which  it 
would  not  have  to  dispute  with  other  animals. 
Tender  twigs  and  leaves,  and  wild  grasses  and 
barks  of  trees,  all  of  them  the  products  of  waste 
places,  were  things  he  desired  for  food.  To 
secure  them  no  planning  was  needed,  no  demand 
was  made  for  intelligence.  A  few  leaps  here 
and  there,  and  he  could  fill  himself  like  an  ox 


.) 


HARES. 


4S 


with  this  ooaase  food,  and  retire  into  his  hiding 
place  a  whole  dxj  while  it  digested.  Under 
such  cireumBtaaftii«a  no  animal  advances  in  brain 
capacity.  S&^h  gifts  of  the  brain  are  won  out 
of  the  stress,  amd  itmggle,  and  makeshifts  that 
our  most  inteHligent  creatures  have  experienced. 
The  species  <jif  aaaimal  that  does  not  feel  the 
spur  of  necesMtr  oirging  the  use  of  brain  power 
will  either  vemMm  comparatively  stupid,  or  de- 
generate into  dthrmed  parasites.  It  is  a  stern 
law  of  nature  thatt  the  possessor  of  one  tal- 
ent must  put  U.  ®cBt  at  some  kind  of  profit,  or 
even  that  shalll  be  taken  away.  Says  Josh 
Billings,  "  Them  aw  has  gets."  Rabbits  find  life 
too  easy.  Th^j  ffntlfU  the  promise  of  the  Psalm- 
ist, "  The  mefck  ffiiiall  eat  and  be  satisfied."  If 
it  is  just  as  w€E  m  be  stupid  and  filled  to  the 
throat  with  bajk  Mud  browse  as  it  is  to  be  smart 
and  clever,  th^ja  -  Br,  Rabbit "  needs  no  sym- 
pathy. The  old  Romans  had  a  saying,  that  "  He 
who  knows  noihmg  spends  the  happiest  life.** 
That  may  be  touev  but  what  is  the  quality  of 
the  happiness?  Is  it  not  more  desirable  to  be 
Newton,  demoiasttBartttng  the  problems  of  plane- 
tary movements,  tfiiskn  it  is  to  be  a  toad  under  a 
leaf  absorbed  an  catching  bugs  and  beetles? 
One  truth  can  be  dfiarly  made  out  in  the  study 
of  organic  life,  amd  ii  ia  this :  Through  millions 


3!*. 


■u 


44 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


[|      i 


of  years  living  f onns  have  become  more  complex 
and  more  intelligent,  until  man  emerges  from 
the  process,  and  aaku,  "From  whence  have  I 
come  and  whither  am  I  going  ?  "  One  may  fairly 
hold,  in  view  of  thi»  fact,  that  to  become  more 
intelligent  is  advancement  for  any  animal ;  to 
become  less  intelligent  is  to  go  backward  and 
fall  out  of  line,  and  lo»e  rank  in  the  march  of 
life.  Compared  with  a  weasel,  or  a  mink,  or  a 
fox,  or  a  crow,  our  rabbit  is  an  idiot.  All  of 
these  creatures  live  on  concentrated  food,  and 
they  are  busy  in  search  of  it,  with  their  senses 
alert.  This  hare  family  are  great  for  multiply- 
ing and  replenishing  the  earth.  Two  and  three 
littei*s  in  a  season,  and  several  in  a  litter,  is  the 
regular  practice.  If  it  were  not  for  their  ene- 
mies they  would  soon  drive  us  from  our  farms. 
If  these  animals  were  creatures  of  more  brains 
there  would  be  fewer  young.  The  power  of 
reproduction  is  gauged  and  proportioned  to  the 
dangers  that  are  sure  to  make  an  end  of  many 
of  them  before  amving  at  maturity.  A  codfish 
produces  a  half-million  eggs  and  only  two  es- 
cape to  replace  the  parents.  The  number  of 
eggs  indicates  the  perils  that  beset  them.  English 
rabbits,  not  hares,  were  taken  out  to  Australia 
where  nature  liad  not  produced  any.  They 
were  innocent  pets,  but  they  soon  spread  abroad, 


HARES. 


45 


and  began  to  possess  the  land  as  if  the  promise 
that  "the  meek  shall  inherit  the  earth"  was 
intended  only  for  themselves.  They  grew  into 
vast  armies,  eating  every  green  thing  that 
seemed  good  for  them.  In  spite  of  guns,  and 
dogs,  and  fences  by  the  thousands  of  miles, 
they  could  not  be  kept  within  bounds.  Now 
they  are  killed  and  dressed  wholesale  and  re- 
turned to  England  for  food  purposes. 

Our  species  is  not  a  rabbit,  but  a  hare.  There 
are  no  rabbits  in  America,  but  tame  ones 
brought  here  for  pets.  They  belong  to  the 
same  family  or  group,  called  Leporidoe^  but 
there  are  marked  differences  in  structure.  Rab- 
bits have  shorter  ears  and  shorter  hinder  legs 
than  hares.  Rabbits  bring  forth  their  young 
naked  in  underground  burrows,  while  hares 
give  birth  to  fur-covered  young  in  open  "  forms  '* 
or  partially  exposed  coverts.  As  a  family  the 
hares  are  widely  distributed,  even  extending  far 
up  into  the  treeless  polar  regions,  where  they 
manage  to  subsist  on  the  dwarf  Arctic  vegeta- 
tion. There  are  about  twenty-five  species  in  all 
the  world. 

I  notice  that  our  "rabbits,"  as  we  will  call 
them,  are  evidently  on  the  lookout  for  enemies, 
that  may  at  any  time  attack  them.  Owls, 
hawks,  wild-cats,  foxes,  and  weasels  are  all  dis- 


f," 


im 


46 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


!      I, 


i': 


I 


posed  to  kill  and  eat  them.  Nature  takes  many 
plans  to  preserve  her  various  species  as  long  as 
possible.  In  the  case  of  the  rabbit  Nature  de- 
cided that  he  shall  not  fight.  She  made  a  non- 
combatant  of  him,  and  "  his  table  is  always  p 
pared  in  the  presence  of  his  enemies,"  and  tL.o 
fact  is  never  forgotten  by  him.  He  depends 
upon  his  eyes  and  ears  to  warn  him  of  danger, 
and  then  he  depends  on  his  hinder  legs  to  take 
him  away  from  it.  It  is  not  often  he  is  caught 
in  a  race  for  life,  but  he  is  still-hunted  and 
pounced  upon  suddenly.  Nature  has  provided 
another  protection  in  their  changing  color  with 
the  seasons.  Doubtless  brown  is  the  true  color, 
and  white  is  a  seasonal  accommodation  answer- 
ing protective  purposes.  Where  there  is  ' 
snow  to  speak  of  they  do  not  become  white.  ^. 
fact  our  rabbits  are  only  white  on  the  tips  of 
the  hairs.  I  have  seen  one  kept  in  confinement 
turn  white  on  all  the  hinder  parts  in  one  night. 
In  the  grouse  family  the  ptarmigans  change 
color  in  the  same  way.  In  the  Arctic  regions, 
where  they  live,  their  greatest  enemies  are  the 
foxes,  but  they,  too,  become  white  in  winter 
from  bluish  in  summer,  and  this  becomes  a 
very  favorable  feature,  enabling  them  to  creep 
unperceived  on  their  prey.  Arctic  wolves  and 
bears  and  owls  are  also  white.    Ravens  are  com- 


r^ 


xxaiBES* 


47 


mon  in  the  same  regions,  and  I  hardly  need  to 
say  how  black  they  are.  For  them  to  change 
would  serve  no  useful  purpose,  for  they  very 
largely  live  on  dead  carcasses  cast  up  by  the 
waves,  or  on  young  birds  in  their  nests,  or  their 
eggs.  The  polar  bear  remains  white  in  all 
seasons,  and  that  color  may  well  be  the  work  oi 
natural  selection,  but  the  change  of  color  is  a 
subject  that  needs  more  light  thrown  on  it  by 
careful  study. 

It  would  seem  to  be  the  most  in  line  with 
observations  that  the  change  of  color  is  due  to 
the  effect  of  cold  on  the  fur,  by  which  it  reflects 
all  the  light  instead  of  a  ]  )rtion  of  it.  That  the 
change  is  beneficial  to  the  hares  is  very  certain, 
but  that  it  was  brought  about  for  their  benefit 
is  not  at  all  clear.  It  would  be  a  good  thing 
for  our  partridges,  but  they  have  got  along 
without  it,  although  their  cousins,  the  ptarmi- 
gans of  Newfoundland  and  Quebec,  have  the 
advantage  of  this  seasonal  change  of  color.  It 
may  be  asked,  of  what  benefit  is  it  to  inquire 
about  such  matters  ?  Why  not  say,  God  willed 
it  that  hares  should  turn  white  in  winter  and 
brown  in  summer?  If  a  very  ingenious  man 
made  a  wonderful  piece  of  machinery  and 
showed  it  to  me,  and  I  merely  remarked  that  I 
knew  he  was  clever  enough  to  make  such  a 


: 


• 


m 


I « 


4.' 


II 


!| 


48 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


thing,  and  never  looked  into  it  further,  it  would 
be  a  very  stupid,  discourteous  treatment  of  the 
inventor.  We  often  treat  the  Maker  of  all 
things  no  better.  When  the  Creator  produces, 
as  he  always  does,  vast  numbers  more  than  can 
live,  then  we  may  well  inquire  by  what  means 
some  survive,  and  through  what  causes  otbei-s 
die  before  reaching  adult  life.  We  shall  find 
that  the  fittest  survive,  those  that  have  some 
advantage  of  teeth,  or  strength,  or  swiftness,  or 
weapons,  or  ability  to  get  food,  or  keep  out  of 
sight,  etc.  The  smallest  advantage  will  be 
of  great  service,  and  may  win  the  race  of  life, 
when  competition  is  so  close.  When  one  thou- 
sand men  start  together  for  a  foot-race,  it  will 
be  decided  by  perhaps  less  than  a  quarter  of  an 
inch  ;  had  there  been  but  ten,  the  victor  would 
probably  have  gained  by  many  feet. 


WEASELS. 


"Sacct  and  as  qaarrelsome  as  a  weasel."  —  Shakespeabk. 

WEASELS  do  not  appear  to  be  common 
with  us,  or  in  fact  anywhere.  This 
winter  morning  I  saw  one  dodging  in  and  out  a 
pile  of  snow-covered  brush.  All  his  upper  parts 
were  nearly  as  white  as  the  snow,  his  thighs  and 
under  portions  a  sulphury-yellowish,  the  tip  of 
his  tail  jet-black.  This  is  the  ermine  weasel, 
Putorius  erminea.  We  are  credited  by  writers 
with  another  species,  Putorius  vulgaris,  about 
the  same  size,  with  a  shorter  tail,  no  sulphur- 
yellowish,  no  black  on  the  tip  of  the  tail.  If 
we  have  this  latter  species  it  must  be  much 
rarer  than  the  former,  which  1  will  proceed  to 
discuss.  This  white  dress  is  the  weasel's  winter 
coat,  as  most  people  know,  but  it  is  not  generally 
observed  that  his  under  parts  are  always  wliite 
or  yellowish-white.  Li  the  warm  season  he  is  a 
mahogany  brown  on  the  back  and  sides.  This 
chancre  of  color  is  worth  consideration.  Tliere 
can  be  no  question  but  the  change  is  a  decided 


V: 

1  ; 


p 


h  i 


^ 


i  I 


50 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


advantage  to  the  weasel.  He  lives  by  hunting, 
and  to  be  as  white  as  the  snow  prevents  his 
intended  victims  from  readily  seeing  him.  The 
under  portion  of  his  body  is  not  exposed,  and 
summer  and  winter  remains  unchanged.  Where 
there  is  little  or  no  snow  these  animals  retain 
the  brown  and  white  all  the  year.  There  is 
some  question  whether  the  white  is  a  new  hair 
in  the  fall,  and  the  brown  a  new  coat  in  the 
spring.  I  think  the  truth  is  that  the  old  coat 
turns  rapidly  white  with  cold  weather,  but  this 
is  replaced  by  a  new  brown  one  in  the  spring. 
If  we  got  at  the  roots  of  this  matter  of  change, 
it  seems  to  me  it  would  be  found  that  the  whiten- 
ing is  due  to  the  cold ;  that  it  serves  a  good 
purpose  for  the  animal  —  is  rather  a  lucky  hit  for 
him  than  a  providential  purpose.  Brutes,  as 
well  as  other  people,  find  luck  in  their  favor 
sometimes.  If  it  is  providential  design,  why 
not  bestow  it  upon  our  red  squirrels  and  par- 
tridges, and  all  winter  birds  and  beasts?  It 
would  be  a  fine  thing  for  them  all.  If  it  were 
not  for  this  advantage  in  color,  the  weasel 
would  not  be  found  among  the  snow.  It  is 
hard  enough,  as  mattera  stand  for  him,  to  make 
a  living,  but  without  this  advantage  the  unequal 
figrht  would  be  useless.  This  animal  is  able  to 
stay  just  because  he  is  helped  out  by  his  natural 


WEASELS. 


61 


variation  of  color.  In  all  living  creatures  one 
sees  adaptations  of  many  kinds  to  enable  them 
to  secure  their  prey  or  hide  from  their  enemies, 
but  nowhere  is  man  and  a  snare,  or  a  trap,  or  a 
shotgun  taken  into  account  with  them.  This 
sliows  that  we  are  the  latest  arrivals.  Before  our 
coming  it  was  all  scratching  and  biting  and  run- 
ning and  hiding ;  but  the  human  animal  twisted 
a  withe  handle  around  a  stone  and  made  a  club, 
tied  string  to  a  limb  and  made  a  bow,  dug  a 
pit  and  covered  it  for  a  trap ;  in  short,  he  turned 
mind  and  wit  against  the  shaggy  horde  and 
mastered  them.  I  am  led  to  this  remark  by  the 
fact  that  this  beautiful  mimicry  of  the  snow  in 
the  white  of  the  weasels,  that  proved  so  advan- 
tageous to  them,  has  been  the  cause  of  their 
greatest  slaughter ;  for  men  took  a  fancy  to  the 
dainty  ermine  fur,  and  countless  numbei*s  have 
been  killed  to  satisfy  the  demand. 

So  Nature  provided  the  Arctic  seals  with  beau- 
tiful close,  soft  fur,  but  liuman  animals  were 
not  anticipated,  who  would  kill  them  to  the  last 
pup  and  pelt  for  this  gift  of  Mother  Nature  to 
her  four-footed  ciiildren.  Birds  of  such  delight- 
ful plumage  that  millions  of  years  have  been 
covered  while  natural  forces  were  at  work  per- 
fecting them  ;  but  man  comes  on  the  scene, 
exclaims,  "  This  is  all  mine  I ''  and,  the  primitive 


"Vi   ■ 


i 


\i     s 


n    :il 


52 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


savage  that  he  is,  kills  the  most  beautiful  birds 
to  make  a  head-dress  for  himself  and  a  girdle 
for  his  swarthy  mate ;  and  although  many, 
many  thousands  of  years  have  passed  away 
since  then,  still  the  finest  feathered  gems  are 
sacrificed  to  the  lingering  love  of  ornament  and 
display. 

But  we  will  not  forget  my  weasel !  I  am 
bound  to  confess,  despite  his  pure,  innocent 
matchiuigr  of  the  "  beautiful  snow,"  that  he  is 
far  from  attractive.  There  is  something  serpent- 
like in  his  aspect  and  geneml  make-up.  His 
flat,  triangular,  rattlesnake  head,  almost  de- 
formed by  great  jaw  muscles,  is  set  on  his  long 
neck  with  a  vicious  cant  like  a  hoe  on  a  handle ; 
his  heavy  black  eyes  seem  so  eager  and  wakeful 
that  one  may  well  believe  that  it  would  be  hard 
"  to  catch  a  weasel  asleep."  There  is  nothing 
frolicsome  and  prankish  in  his  appearance. 
Keen,  inquisitive,  restless,  bloodthirsty,  cruel, 
courageous,  these  describe  his  leading  character- 
istics. He  is  a  creature  of  solitary  habits,  pre- 
fei's  his  own  company  to  any  other,  and  shares 
neither  his  luck  nor  his  misery  with  another. 
No  other  animal  of  its  size  is  possessed  of  such 
audacious  pluck.  They  will  seize  a  rabbit,  or 
partridge,  or  hen,  and  overmaster  them  in  many 
instances.    When  it  comes  to  eating  they  pre- 


WEASELS. 


53 


fer  the  brains  and  next  the  blood.  When  neither 
of  these  dainties  are  to  be  had  they  will  take 
the  next  best.  Young  birds  in  their  nests,  mice 
and  rats  and  insects,  all  are  appreciated.  Squir- 
rels fall  victims  to  their  rapacity,  especially  the 
striped  squirrel,  for  he  dives  into  a  hole,  and 
there  his  pursuer  will  finish  him.  He  can  also 
climb  a  tree,  and  swim  a  stream.  When  he  is  in 
especial  good  luck,  and  kills  several  mice  and  birds 
within  a  small  space,  he  drags  them  together, 
perhaps  to  better  guard  them,  perhaps  to  make 
a  better  showing  and  please  his  pride.  When 
his  larder  is  full,  and  he  has  a  bit  to  spare,  he 
buries  it  out  of  sight  —  a  very  common  and  wide- 
spread instinct.  Sometimes  a  mousing  hawk 
or  owl  seizes  a  weasel  in  his  claws,  and  flies 
away  to  make  a  meal  of  him ;  unless  he  has 
been  careful  about  securing  his  head  and  neck, 
he  will  get  even  by  eating  into  the  vitals  of 
his  captor  and  bring  him  to  the  ground  in  a 
death  struggle,  while  he  gets  off  with  a  few 
scratches  and  lives  to  feast  on  the  brains  of  his 
big  enemy.  If  revenge  is  sweet,  tlien  the  little 
fellow  has  his  morsel  well  sauced  with  it. 

Among  the  delicacies  of  weasels,  one  must 
not  forget  to  mention  eggs  of  birds  and  fowl. 
Shakespeare,  who  was  once  a  country  boy,  and 
knew  all  the  beasts  and  l)irdii  and  plants  and 


IV 


54 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


creeping  things,   makes   Jacques  say  in   "  As 
You  Like  It": 

"  I  can  suck  melancholy  out  of  a  song  as  a  weasel  sucks 
eggs." 


{i 


And  again  in  "  Henry  V  "  : 

"  For  once  the  eagle  England  being  in  proy, 
To  her  unguarded  nest  the  weasel  Scot 
Comes  sneaking,  and  so  sucks  her  princely  eggs." 

It  is  a  rare  find  to  come  across  a  nest-full  of 
young  weasels  ;  the  mother  seeks  out  a  place  in 
a  hollow  log,  or  beneath  stones  or  trees,  and 
there  gives  birth  to  four  or  five  young,  and  this 
occurs  early  in  the  season.  They  have  been 
found  when  the  mother  was  white  in  winter 
dress.  She  is  a  bold  defender  of  her  young  to 
the  utmost.  In  some  localities  more  than  one 
litter  is  born  in  a  season.  Such  rapid  multipli- 
cation of  a  creature  like  this  ought  to  make 
them  very  abundant,  but  they  are  not.  It  is  a 
very  interesting  question,  what  keeps  them 
in  check  ?  So  many  young  in  a  litter  indicates 
a  special  danger,  but  I  hardly  know  an  enemy 
but  mankind,  and  but  few  are  destroyed  with 
us  by  traps  or  guns.  They  are  stroi  ;,  hardy, 
acute  animals  favored  by  changing  colors,  and 
food  enough  and  to  spare,  and  yet  not  one  in 


WEASELS. 


65 


four  of  their  young  comes  to  maturity.  Evi- 
dently here  is  opportunity  to  learn  something 
of  interest. 

In  North  America  there  are  several  species 
of  weasel,  and  a  larger  relative,  the  American 
blackfooted  stoat,  twenty  inches  in  length. 
This  animal  is  found  in  Kansas  and  other  West- 
ern States.  It  is  rare,  in  fact  veiy  rare,  and 
seems  to  live  mostly  on  the  little  rodents  known 
as  prairie  dogs.  These  live  in  underground 
burrows,  congregating  into  villages,  where  grass 
can  be  found  for  food.  The  stoat  attacks  them 
in  their  dens,  although  they  are  nearly  as  large, 
with  teeth  like  rats,  and  disposed  to  use  them 
when  cornered.  Great  numbei-s  of  weasel  skins 
were  once  sent  to  Europe  from  the  Hudson  Bay 
region  with  other  furs,  but  now  they  are  not  in 
much  demand. 


I" 


'  4 


'■■ '.  M 


Si'.'ii 


SPIDERS. 


li; 


( 
t 


I: 


W 


*'  Trk  tiplder  taketh  hold  with  her  hand»,aDd  it  ia  Idai^SfailacM.— 

PBUVEBB8  XXX,  28. 

OF  all  the  little  folks  about  us  bat  few  are 
more  common  than  spiders;  none  are 
better  worth  study,  and  yet  they  are  neither 
liked  nor  admired,  and  but  few  give  them  care- 
ful attention.  Tliey  are  not  properly  insects 
but  more  nearly  related  to  scorpions  ami  crabs. 
It  is  a  very  large  group,  embracing  many  genera 
and  species.  With  rare  exceptions,  and  they 
do  not  exist  with  us,  spiders  are  entirely  harm- 
less. They  are  not  inclined  to  bite ;  occasion- 
ally they  do,  but  I  have  never  heard  of  snch  a 
wound  causing  much  pain  but  in  one  instance. 
These  animals  are  not  only  harmless  but  they 
are  very  good  friends  of  mankind.  They  live 
altogether  on  insects  except  when  the  females 
turn  cannibals  and  devour  their  feebler  mates. 
Unless  one  carefully  took  into  consideration  the 
great  numbei'S  of  our  spiders,  he  would  scarcely 
do  justice  to  their  good  services  in  our  behalf. 


SPIDERS. 


67 


She  not  omlj  taketh  hold  with  her  hands  in 
king's  palattTt*  l>at  ahe  festoons  the  dingy  attic 
and  cellars  wiik  silken  nets.  She  covers  the 
fields,  and  pa*tterres,  and  shrubs,  and  orchards,  and 
fences,  "vsitb  djirntj  traps,  which  are  tended  and 
repaired  aikd  watched  with  hungry  eyes  for  vic- 
tims. 

I  have  Ijeern  Mudoeed  to  write  this  chapter  on 
account  of  ths  interesting  features  that  come 
within  its  BO^Dptt^  ^it  perhaps  it  would  not  have 
been  written  Imt  for  the  fact  that  a  recent  early 
morning  ride  m  the  mine  gave  me  a  capital  op- 
portunity Iv  see  spiders'  webs  everywhere  decked 
in  glittering  giem:^  of  dew,  that  served  to  make 
them  not  only  viiible  but  beautiful  in  the  level 
sunbeams-  T^aer  were  stretched  across  the  road 
in  sagging  ciBore»r  threaded  closely  with  beads 
that  uribraided  ihe  white  light  of  the  sunbeam, 
and  revealed  iU  hulden  rainbow  of  colore.  From 
naked  brancLe*  i^icid  fragrant  fir  limbs  they  hung 
in  dainty  wheelsy  w&ven  in  spokes  and  spirals, 
and  braced  wilihi  .4kill  and  judgment.  They  car- 
peted the  unfeigSuttly  brush-piles  in  gleaming  gos- 
samer. Under  ih&  raa<nc  of  dew  and  sunshine 
tlie  works  of  tiiew  marvellous  spinners  and  weav- 
ers stood  revedal.  Many  species  had  taken  part 
in  the  performamwas'.  Each  one  had  its  own  way 
of  constructiEg^  a  trap.    All  this  decking  the 


E!   )| 


KM 


68 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


i, 


:  y 


Hit 

t  - 


roadside  was  not  done  with  an  eye  to  beauty ; 
there  was  no  thought  about  the  gentle  dew 
adorning  them  with  jewels;  no  consideration 
that  the  sunbeams  would  be  wrecked  in  their 
pendant  pearls,  and  a  human  eye  would  be  there 
to  enjoy  the  spectacle.  Quite  otherwise :  every 
net  had  been  made  for  the  special  purpose  of 
entangling  some  living  thing.  As  a  rule,  only 
the  female  spiders  can  make  webs.  The  males 
are  smaller,  slimmer,  and  prowl  around  the  webs 
of  species  smaller  tlian  their  own  kind,  and  rob 
them.  When  pressed  by  hunger  they  will  vent- 
ure a  combat  with  a  female  of  their  species,  for 
the  sake  of  a  meal  on  a  captured  fly.  Not  very 
long  ago  I  witnessed  an  encounter  of  that  kind. 
The  female,  one  of  the  wheel-making  kind,  a 
strong,  active  thing,  that  would  more  than  cover 
a  copper  cent,  had  made  a  fine  trap  between 
two  bits  of  a  timber  of  a  bridge.  It  was  about 
a  foot  across.  She  sat  in  the  centre,  with  each 
foot  grasping  a  spoke  and  thus  able  to  quickly 
feel  any  disturbance,  and  ready  to  run  toward 
the  point  where  a  fly  would  be  caught.  The 
twilight  was  over  all,  and  spider-life  was  becom- 
ing very  active.  A  large  male  spider  that  had 
been  in  hiding  near  the  fly-trap  of  his  relative 
—  one  of  the  same  species  —  ran  quickly  out  on 
the  edge  of  the  web,  seized  a  thread  of  it  and 


SPIDEBS. 


59 


jerked  it  rapidly,  to  learn  if  the  owner  was  at 
the  centre.  Neither  of  them  could  trust  their 
sight  for  that  distance.  The  vigilant  proprie- 
tress seemed  to  know  at  once  that  this  was  no 
stniggling  fly  or  moth.  There  was  an  unmis- 
takable defiant  twang  of  the  web  that  told  an- 
other story.  Her  rights  were  evidently  being 
invaded.  She  would  have  twanged  the  spokes 
herself  had  it  been  a  victim,  to  make  sure  of 
the  impression,  but  now  she  ran  straight  to  the 
intruder.  He  hesitated,  but  concluded  to  fight. 
They  were  bent  on  biting.  Each  of  them  sparred 
for  a  chance  to  seize  the  other  by  a  leg,  and  as 
there  were  sixteen  between  the  two,  it  was 
rather  spry  work  to  take  care  of  them.  After 
a  fierce  round  of  a  half-minute  the  female  drove 
him  to  the  outside  ropes  of  the  web.  At  that 
point  each  one  lost  a  leg,  but  like 

"  Worthington,  of  doleful  dumps, 
Who  when  his  legs  were  smitten  off, 
He  fought  upon  his  stumps," 

they  did  not  appear  to  notice  their  loss.  They 
would  withdraw  from  a  grapple  for  a  few  sec- 
onds and  then  renew  the  combat.  In  one  of 
these  mind-collecting  moments  the  female  made 
a  dash  for  the  centre  of  the  web  and  gathered 
herself  sulkingly  into  a  vigilant  attitude.  The 
male  followed  a  bit  into  the  disputed  territory, 


n 


*K 


^  rt- 


I 


lii 


:i 


I  m 


?7^ 


60 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


and  contented  himself  with  "daring  her  out" 
by  strumming  on  the  cords  again.  She  was  un- 
easy and  angry,  but  as  he  ventured  nearer  there 
was  nothing  to  do  but  fight  or  retreat,  so  she 
fairly  sprang  upon  him.  But  he  was  not  asleep ; 
they  clinched  and  kicked,  and  bit,  till  tliey  lost 
their  grip  on  the  lines  and  fell  out  of  sight, 
locked  in  as  venomous  and  spiteful  an  embrace 
as  one  could  witness.  Two  tigers  could  not 
have  outdone  them  in  every  appearance  of  anger. 
The  female  generally  wins.  She  will  kill  and 
eat  the  male  who  would  have  been  the  father 
of  her  brood. 

Let  us  go  back  on  our  track  a  little.  When 
a  true  bug  or  beetle  or  fly  is  hatched,  a  worm  is 
the  first  result  —  not  a  true  worm  but  a  grub, 
and  it  matures  by  undergoing  many  changes. 
A.  spider  is  born  complete.  As  he  increases  in 
size  he  sheds  or  moults  his  skin  or  shell  like 
lobsters.  They  have  six  pairs  of  limbs:  four 
1  airs  are  used  for  legs ;  a  pair  of  polypi,  or 
feelers,  used  also  for  other  purposes ;  a  hinder 
pair  of  legs  are  used  to  guide  the  thread. 
Tliey  are  fuinished  with  three  claws  and  a 
brush  of  fine  hair ;  the  other  legs  are  clawed  in 
the  same  way.  On  the  under  side,  a  ^ 
behind  the  first  pair  of  legs,  are  two  n' 
concealed  by  covers.    At  the  end  (      ae  k.      , 


SPIDERS. 


61 


and  somewhat  beneath,  are  the  spinnerets ; 
there  are  three  pairs.  The  webbing  or  silk 
issues  from  the  body  through  these  holes  and 
becomes  joined  in  one  thread  afterwards.  It  is 
often  asked,  how  spiders  string  their  single 
lines  from  tree-top  to  tree-top,  across  roads  or 
from  building  to  building?  Having  crawled 
up  to  a  desirable  elevation,  they  start  the 
thread  either  by  a  muscular  effort  or  by  stick- 
ing the  end  to  a  limb  or  board,  and  then  "pay  " 
it  out  by  using  the  hinder  feet  to  pull  it  out  of 
the  body.  The  slight  \/ind  will  do  the  rest, 
drifting  it  upon  some  holding-ground  where  it 
ties  itself.  Small  spiders,  in  great  numbers  are 
carried  through  the  air  at  the  end  of  long  web- 
lines. 

In  South  America  a  W(3b  is  made  by  a  large 
spider,  in  which  small  birds  are  caught  and 
held  fast;  the  owner  greedily  feeds  on  them. 
To  tell  of  all  their  curious  and  often  wonderful 
nosts  and  traps  would  be  a  long  story,  but  an 
interesting  and  instructive  one.  As  a  rule, 
spiders  trail  their  webs  along,  to  be  ready  for 
any  emergency.  With  a  ^udden  breath  you 
may  blow  one  of  them  from  his  position  to  give 
him  a  fall,  but  it  will  be  found  that  he  is 
dangling  at  the  end  of  a  thread.  On  the  water 
thi^y  are  generally  very  much  at  home,  and  our 


V' 


I 

t-IM 


I 


62 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


black  water  spider  does  not  make  a  web,  but 
lurks  about  the  shores  and  springs  on  its  victim. 
Here  I  must  take  leave  of  these  most  inter- 
esting little  animals.  Their  habits,  instincts, 
structures  and  dispositions  are  all  marked  with 
peculiar  distinctness,  and  a  careful  study  of 
them  is  no  idle  amusement  but  a  pleasant  and 
praiseworthy  task. 


H\ 


A  GOLD   MINE. 


"  Surely  there  is  a  vein  fur  silver  tun\  a  place  for  goKl  whore  they 
flneit."  — JoHxzviii. 

AFTER  loitering  so  long  on  a  road  that 
leads  to  a  gold  mining  district  it  might 
seem  in  order  to  devote  a  chapter  to  this  natu- 
ral feature  of  the  country.  Falling  in  with 
that  view  1  will  proceed  to  put  down  what 
strikes  me  to  bo  the  most  interesting  features. 
If  I  do  not  succeed  in  making  a  readable 
chapter  for  those  who  like  this  kind  of  literat- 
ure, it  will  not  Ik)  for  lack  of  experience  or 
want  of  interest  on  my  part.  I  do  not  know 
of  any  branch  of  human  industry  where  there 
are  sucli  misconceptions,  delusions  and  utter 
ignomnce  as  there  is  in  the  matter  of  gold  min- 
ing, and  how  gold  exists  in  its  natnml  condi- 
tions and  locations.  In  the  first  place,  gold  is 
not  a  rare  metal.  Chemically  combined  with 
the  element  chlorine  it  exists  in  all  ocean  water 
to  the  value  of  about  three  cents  to  a  ton  of 
water.     Gold  in  minute  quantities  to  thj  cubic 


1!'! 


64 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


i 


i 


foot  is  often  found  distributed  over  wide  ranges 
of  country.  But  to  find  gold,  brought  together 
by  natural  operations  in  sufficient  quantities  to 
mine  it  with  profit,  is  the  difficult  point.  To 
find  gold  in  rocks  or  gravel  is  not  a  matter 
requiring  much  effort.  So  far  as  we  know,  all 
the  gold  that  man  has  obtained  in  Nova  Scotia 
has  either  been  mined  out  of  a  quartz  vein  or 
washed  out  of  gravel  containing  gold  tliat  has 
been  broken  out  of  veins  and  washed  into  the 
surface  by  natural  agencies;  and  apparently 
this  is  true  over  all  the  earth. 

Let  us  first  get  a  clear  idea  of  a  mineral  vein 
or  lead.  If  the  rocks  of  all  this  region  were 
completely  stripped  of  the  covering  of  gmvel, 
sand,  mud  and  clay,  and  laid  clean  and  naked 
to  view,  we  would  see  long  broken  ledges  in 
upturned  positio^^s,  running  easterly  and  west- 
erly sometimes  the  layers  would  be  standing 
on  edge,  quite  perpendicular,  and  in  that  case 
they  would  l)e  found  to  slant  or  "dip"  or  in- 
cline, gradually  increasing  the  slant  with  the 
distance  on  both  sides  of  the  perpendicular  and 
in  opposite  directions.  If  you  will  set  a  book 
on  its  edge,  and  then  lean  against  it,  on  each 
side,  other  books,  bracing  against  the  central 
one  and  supporting  it  in  place,  you  will  then 
have  the  position  of  the  rocks,  only  the  books 


ie  ranges 
together 
itities  to 
int.     To 
>  matter 
now,  all 
!i  Scotia 
vein  or 
liiit  has 
nto  the 
)aientl3r 


al  vein 
•n  were 
gmvel, 

naked 
ges  in 
I  west- 
anding 
it  ca.se 

or  in- 
th  the 
ar  and 
I  book 
I  each 
entral 
I  then 
books 


I 


h.] 


A    GOLI>   MINE. 


65 


4- 


must  slant  more  and  rn<>r»*  till  they  ar«»  flat,  and 
thon  begin  to  bo  piled  ap  \o  make  aiu>r'm»r  lK)ok 
ige.     At  the  }M-»int  wi;»  :  ri->rka  or  stmta 

;Me  perpendicular  it  is  tej*mi>  .♦; 

•  Ill'  point  wliero  they  havu    :.  ^l  !!S 

t€nned  n  synclinal.  Sow  from  •  i  Mw-*© 
nnt«clinal«  to  jimitijer  iIk-  distan?*'  v 

several  miles.  The  leilcfC-M  or  strata  i-  •  »!,  •»{ 
two  varieties  —  qiiartzite  an*!  *lAte;  Oi*'-  tr^t 
against  each  other  in  alteniaMjijs;  Uyprs,  J'  ,^ 

of  a  few  feet,  or  many  feet,  or  a  few  inches  m 
width.  Both  of  these  kinds  of  rocks  are  of 
jihore  origin ;  they  are  sediments  and  sands 
ground  up  on  a  seashore  many  million  years 
ag(> ;  there  can  he  no  pn^]H»r  qucKtion  as  to  this 
Hlatement.  N»>w  iSupp«»;?o^  that  all  the  region 
is  bare,  we  wouhi  net*  vvhit<»  lin«j»  running  n\Km^ 
between  the  ktyersof  rorks  ;  ♦*XAinin8ir.t(jr}j  w»»''h^ 
show  that  thev  w*»re  vein*  of  hani  rock,  VAVy .... 
in  width  inuij  .i  mr^re  line  to  fi'^e  fe»^t,  aij<!  rujv- 
nincr  easterlv  and  westerly  ^\itll  the  ledges  in 
which  they  are  enclosed.  If  you  will  put  leaves 
of  paper  and  pasteboard  between  the  books  I 
have  imagined  to  l>e  piled  up,  then  the>n  will 
tiliow  the  positions  of  the  veins  in  the  rm-ks. 
I'hen  y(»ii  will  see  that  some  veins  wJl  be  per- 
pendicular and  others  more  or  less*  slautivtj^; 
these  are  railed  "resruh\r"  veins,  or  int*'r«iirati- 


[lir* 


! 


•J' 


e«-*>'h;^  . 


*  . 


4 


.5'i 


ifci    .: 


S3L 


A  GOLD  MINE. 


65 


must  slant  more  and  more  till  they  are  flat,  and 
then  begin  to  be  piled  up  to  make  another  book 
ledge.  At  the  point  where  the  rocks  or  strata 
are  i)erpendicular  it  is  termed  an  anteclinal ;  at 
the  point  where  they  have  flattened  out  it  is 
termed  a  synclinal.  Now  from  one  of  these 
anteclinals  to  another  the  distance  is  generally 
several  miles.  The  ledges  or  strata  are  all  of 
two  varieties  —  quartzite  and  slate;  they  rest 
against  each  other  in  alternating  layers,  perhaps 
of  a  few  feet,  or  many  feet,  or  a  few  inches  in 
width.  Both  of  tliese  kinds  of  rocks  are  of 
shore  origin ;  they  are  sediments  and  sands 
ground  up  on  a  seashore  many  million  years 
ago ;  there  can  be  no  proper  question  as  to  this 
statement.  Now  supposing  that  all  the  region 
is  bare,  we  would  see  white  lines  running  along 
between  the  layei-s  of  rocks ;  examination  would 
show  that  they  were  veins  of  hard  rock,  varying 
in  width  from  a  mere  line  to  five  feet,  and  run- 
ning easterly  and  westerly  with  the  ledges  in 
which  they  are  enclosed.  If  you  will  put  leaves 
of  paper  and  pasteboard  between  the  books  I 
have  imagined  to  be  piled  up,  then  these  will 
show  the  positions  of  the  veins  in  the  rocks. 
Then  you  will  see  that  some  veins  will  be  per- 
pendicular and  others  more  or  less  slanting; 
these  are  called  "  regular  "  veins,  or  interstrati- 


I 


'    lII 


f' .1 


h ! 


66 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LASTD. 


fied  or  interbedded  veins.  If  all  were  dear  as 
we  suppose,  other  veins  in  plenty  would  be  seen 
running  in  various  directions  and  entering  the 
rocks  at  differing  angles.  These  are  known  as 
"  angulai-s  '*  or  "  crossleads."  In  both  kinds  of 
leads  or  veins  they  are  formed  of  white  quartz 
or  silica. 

In  conditions  like  we  have  here  imagined, 
where  nothing  would  hide  the  solid  surface  of 
rocks,  there  would  be  no  great  difficulty  for  the 
"  first  comers  "  to  locate  a  gold  mine  that  would 
be  a  fortune  in  itself.  It  would  onlv  be  neces- 
sary  to  examine  these  white  lines  of  outcrop- 
ping quartz  veins,  where  gold  would  be  found 
in  some  of  them,  and  then  select  the  richest 
veins.  As  matters  now  stand,  the  once  bore 
rocks  and  veins  are  covered  throughout  the 
district,  with  few  exceptions,  with  an  average 
depth  of  seven  or  eight  feet  of  gravel,  sand 
and  clay.  In  places  this  superficial  deposit  is 
fifty  feet  deep.  Of  coui-se  all  this  upper  mate- 
rial is  made  up  of  other  rocks  broken  into  dif- 
ferent degrees  of  fineness.  The  underlying 
"  bed  rock  "  or  "  country  rock  "  belongs  to  the 
Silurian  group,  and  therefore  to  be  reckoned 
among  the  earliest  of  water-made  or  sediment- 
ary formations ;  but  this  overling  material,  in 
which  all  the  vegetable  life  is  rooted,  is  com- 


▲  GOLD  MINE. 


67 


paratively  hmh  and  new.  It  is  the  scattered 
debris  of  tii*  ^ffcat  Ice  Age,  that  closed  some- 
where witliim  «me  hundred  thousand  years, 
reasoning  from  many  data.  When  that  reign 
of  cold  ijreTaiJIed  a  body  of  snow,  compressed 
into  ice  seToal  thousand  feet  in  thickness, 
covered  all  Ifcie  northern  portion  of  North 
America,  and  iM*  locality  was  included.  This 
ice  sheet  or  glautirer  moved  very  slowly  —  a  few 
inches  in  a  day — in  a  southeasterly  direction 
to  the  ocean-  In  xraa  continually  fed  by  snows. 
In  this  moxe'mttmt  over  the  naked  rocks  it  car- 
ried along  fi-ajgiaiBents  of  them,  frozen  in  its 
embrace,  and  hn)ke  off  and  pushed  forward  the 
more  exposed  |iirtO'jiecting  veins  and  ledges.  Al- 
though no  !aift«(wian  of  that  time  wrote  this 
down  in  a  }f(mk  for  us  to  consult,  still  Nature 
herself  made  a  iretsord,  readily  interpreted  and 
destined  to  oTiliL»*t  mankind  and  all  his  works. 
Tlie  proof  is  Tarr  simple.  Let  me  illustrate: 
If  any  one  of  ra*  had  ever  seen  and  carefully 
observed  a  h&ur  smd  his  tracks,  and  afterwards 
wert  into  ano>ttlifrT  eountry  and  saw  bear  tracks 
about  the  wood*,  lie  would  know  the  animal 
had  been  w3aiei«  lie  made  and  left  the  impres- 
sions of  his  fieetL  Now  there  are  immense 
glaciers  in  Gweernhmd^  Alaska  and  other  Polar 
regions.    Of  smaSkr  dimensions  they  are  found 


Wit 


i! 


68 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


in  the  Swiss  Alps  and  other  mountains.  We 
know  liin  tracks;  we  can  see  what  he  does; 
and  we  find  the  same  tracks  abundant  here  on 
these  "  Molega  Barrens  "  and  all  over  northern 
Nortli  America. 

I  would  not  tell  this  story  about  the  glacier 
only  that  it  explains  the  prospector's  mode  of 
operation.  In  looking  for  a  gold-bearing  vein 
we  seek  for  fragments  of  quartz  on  the  surface^ 
among  the  bushes  and  bracken,  and  when  found 
the}'^  are  broken  and  examined.  These  pieces 
of  quartz  are  known  as  "  float  '*  or  "  drift,"  and 
when  a  promising  bit  is  found  the  prospector 
looks  northward  for  more;  if  he  finds  other 
portions  of  the  vein  he  continues  northward 
until  no  more  are  to  be  found  on  top  of  ground; 
then  he  begins  to  dig  a  trench,  still  going  north- 
ward, and,  if  he  succeeds,  che  vein  will  be 
found  anywhere  from  twenty-five  to  several 
hundred  feet  from  where  the  last  "float"  was 
obtained  on  the  surface.  The  reason  why  the 
prospector  goes  northward  is  because  experience 
has  taught  him  that  the  fragments  of  the  vein 
are  always  south  of  it.  Here  science  steps  in 
and  explains  that  the  glacier  was  the  cause  that 
broke  the  vein  and  carried  its  fragment  in  its 
course,  and  was  aided  by  the  rushing  floods  that 
moved   seaward  too,  when  the  Glacial  Period 


A  GOLD  MINE. 


69 


slowly  came  to  a  close,  after  existing  several 
thousand  years.  These  quartz  veins  are  the 
meeting-places  of  the  metals  all  over  the  world. 
In  them  are  huddled  minerals  of  almost  all 
known  varieties.  The  metals  seem  to  have  their 
loves  or  affinities.  Never  yet  was  gold  found 
without  a  trace  or  more  of  silver  intermingled. 
Like  Ruth  with  Naomi,  there  is  a  tacit  dechira- 
tion  that  "  Whitlier  thou  goest  T  will  go,  and 
where  thou  lodgest  I  will  lodge."  Gold,  as 
found  in  nature,  anywhere  out  of  the  ocean,  is 
always  uncombined  with  any  other  element. 
With  silver  it  is  simply  alloyed.  In  these  veins 
at  Molega  it  is  associated  witli  base  metals,  that 
exist  as  sulphides.  We  have  chemically  com- 
bined these :  sulphur  and  iron,  or  iron  pyrites, 
sulphur  and  lead,  or  galena,  sulphur  and  zinc, 
or  blende  or  "  black  jack  "  of  the  miners  ;  sul- 
phur, iron  and  copper,  or  copper  pyrites,  sulphur, 
iron  and  aisenic,  or  mispicked  or  "white  iron  " 
of  the  minei-s.  These  minerals  occur  as  crystals, 
distributed  in  varying  quantities  thi-ough  the 
vein-mutter  or  quartz.  Tlie  visible  gold  is  to 
be  found  usually,  either  actually  in  contact  with 
these  minerals  or  very  near  them.  Always 
there  is  fine  invisible  gold  caught  in  the  crystals 
of  these  base  metals.  The  quantity  varies  from 
twenty  dollars  to  two  hundred  dollars  or  more 


'$i% 


10 


IN  THE  ACADIAN   LAND. 


a  ton,  over  all  the  Province  of  Nova  Scotia.  Here 
on  these  Molega  ores  it  is  about  twenty  dollars, 
and  since  it  is  too  fine  to  save  in  a  stamp-mill 
it  is  lost,  and  can  only  be  saved  by  a  chemical 
process.  This  fine  gold  was  entiappcd  in  these 
base-metal  crystals  when  thoy  were  formed  from 
solutions  that  contained  the  dissolved  silica  and 
all  its  associates  in  the  vein. 

It  will  now  be  in  order  to  say  something  about 
the  origin  of  these  quartz  veins,  that  prove  so 
useful  to  mankind  that  without  tliem  we  would 
not  be  able  to  liave  gold  and  silver,  and  copper 
and  tin,  and  antimony  and  zinc,  and  many  other 
metals.  Iron  ore  also  occurs  very  largely  in 
veins.  The  metals  might  have  existed  in  the 
same  quantities,  and  yet  be  either  dissolved  in 
water  or  scattered  in  minute  quantities  through 
vast  strata  of  rocks.  In  just  those  conditions  they 
once  existed,  and  the  ocean  is  the  great  storehouse 
of  precious  metals  held  in  solution,  and  all  tlie 
veins  in  the  world  contain  but  a  very  small  per- 
centage of  what  is  distributed  through  the  rocky 
crust.  I  know  of  no  other  natural  feature  that 
seems  so  clearly  to  indicate  a  preparation  for 
the  human  race  as  these  storehouses  of  metals  — 
these  hoards  of  needed  material  —  brought  to- 
gether by  the  subtle  action  of  chemical  laws 
working  with  physical  conditions  of  the  crust 


A  GOL'>   MINE. 


71 


of  the  earth.  Without  iron  and  steel  mankind 
does  not  advance  above  barbarism.  To  conquer 
the  material  world  he  must  have  tools  and 
machinery.  Without  metals  mankind  could 
neither  make  a  conquest  of  material  nature  nor 
extricate  himself  from  the  lower  brute  stratum 
of  life,  and  without  the  metals  brought  togetlier 
in  veins  it  would  be  impossible  to  obtain  tliem. 
Thus,  "  On  small  hinges  turn  great  doors."  All 
veins  mark  the  places  of  rents  or  cracks  in  the 
rocks ;  no  matter  wliether  they  are  great  fissure 
veins  many  miles  in  length,  and  from  ten  to  two 
or  three  hundred  feet  in  width  in  places,  or 
whether  they  are  only  a  few  feet  in  length  and 
thinner  than  a  knife  blade,  the  origin  is  the 
same  ;  they  are  healed  rents. 

For  the  most  part,  over  all  the  earth  this 
mending  or  healing  the  wound  is  done  with 
silica  or  quartz.  This  is  a  very  common  mineral, 
entering  largely  into  tlie  composition  of  almost 
all  kinds  of  rocks.  It  is  one  of  nature's  main 
materials  used  in  the  construction  of  this  earth. 
When  analyzed  by  a  chemist  it  is  found  to  be 
made  of  two  elements,  namely,  oxygen,  on  which 
we  depend  for  the  breath  of  life,  and  silicon,  a 
metal  never  found  outside  of  the  clutches  of  this 
terrible  oxygen.  They  are  interlocked  in  an 
embrace  that  was  formed  when  the  earth  was 


li';l 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


a  fluid  mass ;  it  will  not  be  broken  till  the  ele- 
ments shall  "  melt  with  fervent  heat "  and  our 
planet  reduced  to  vapora  again.  Hero  in  tlie 
quartz  of  the  world  is  oxygen  su  Hie  lent  for 
anothur  atmosphere  ;  but  it  is  "retired  from  cir- 
culation "  ;  its  terroi-s  are  masked  and  bound  hy 
silicon,  its  atlinity.  Free  in  the  air,  where  it  is 
intermingled  with  nitrogen,  its  activities  proihu^o 
the  heat  in  all  animals,  the  flames  of  all  li res,  the 
rust  on  all  metals.  It  gives  color  to  the  blood 
that  blushes  on  a  maiden's  cheek,  kindles  the 
first  breath  of  all  infancy,  and  feeds  the  torch  of 
life  to  the  last  throb  of  vitality.  It  dissolves 
into  eltMuental  stuff  the  lifeless  bodies  of  all 
creatures.  It  builds  and  burns  with  ceaseless 
activity  and  awful  energy,  tearing  down  moun- 
tains, roaring  in  the  volcano's  throat,  and  yt^t 
tending  the  vitd  llame  in  the  tiniest  insjcts  and 
pulsing  through  microsi:opic  structures  where 
all  life  would  ceiise  without  its  tireless  ministra- 
tions. 

Such,  then,  ih  this  Iwneficent  but  awful 
agency  mtjckly  slumbering  in  this  fhnt,  or 
quart/,,  or  silica  that  makes  uj)  the  ma  rial  <»f 
our  veins.  MingltMl  thiough  it  are  the  other 
minerals,  and  gold  aujong  them.  Nothing  can 
be  clearer  than  this  to  an  obsei  ver.  This  quartz 
wfis  not  melted  when  the  metnls  wen;  introduced 


A  GOLD  MINE. 


T8 


into  it ;  in  that  case  they  wouhl  be  arranged  in 
hiyeix  according  to  their  Hpocilic  gravity  or 
weight,  bnt  they  are  not.  Then,  again,  tlie  most 
delicate  crystiils  and  threads  of  gohl  ixm  niiiiglod 
and  interlaced  in  such  ways  that  .v  melted  mass 
f(»i(!ed  up  into  tlio  rents  would  not  i)ermit 
to  form.  The  explanation  is  tluit  the  (imutz  was 
introduced  into  all  veins  either  from  Ixilow 
through  the  agoncies  of  hot  water  and  steam,  in 
whicli  it  and  all  its  metals  were  dissolved,  or  it 
oozed  from  the  walla  out  of  the  surrounding 
rocks,  throut'h  which  there  isalwavs  a  circulation 
of  water.  Tliere  are  abunthmt  rciusons  for  this  ex- 
planation, but  h(U*e  there  is  no  space  for  stating 
them.  At  the  Steand)oat  Hot  Springs  of  Nevada 
this  making  a  (piartz  vein  with  metallic  contents 
is  going  on  tinlay,  and  open  to  all  <jbsci*\'ei-s,  and 
it  is  a(!comj)lished  as  I  have  indicated. 

Now  for  a  little  furtlnu'  notice  about  gold.  It 
is  mined  with  drills,  picks  ;  nd  shovels,  and 
dynamite  in  the  hands  of  strong,  hardy  m.Mu 
Thcv  do  not  **<lig"  gold  only  ingravd  deposits. 
With  us  the  (|uartz  is  blasted  nut,  and  hauled  to 
a  stanii»ing-mill  or  crusher,  where  it  is  [lounded 
into  sand  by  stamps  weighing  about  nine  liun- 
•lied  pounds  each.  Tlie  gold  is  thus  cleared 
from  the  quartz,  melted  into  Imrs,  and  sold  in 
Now  York  to  the  United  States  (iovernment. 


H! 


11' 


i."r' 


w 


II 


LUNCH  BY  THE   BROOKSIDE. 


"  And  this  our  life,  ozempt  from  public  haunts, 
Pliidt  toiiguM  in  trees,  books  in  the  ranning  broolu, 
Sermons  in  stones,  and  goo<l  in  everything."  —  Shakksprars. 

AT  a  distance  of  more  than  a  mile  in  tlie 
Molega  Road  is  the  crossing  of  a  small 
brook  on  a  pole  bridge.  At  this  point  the  stream, 
about  a  rod  in  width,  is  gently  ruiniing  over  a 
gravel  bed,  and  half  hiding  in  the  bushes  as  it 
makes  its  v/ay  to  the  river,  nearly  a  mile  away. 
For  a  small  part  of  that  distance  it  tumbles  alon^„; 
the  margin  of  a  neglected  field,  and  then  dives 
into  the  primeval  forests  of  birch,  oaks,  hemlocks 
and  lirs,  carpeted  with  mosses  and  hung  with 
lichens. 

teaching  the  edge  of  the  wood  before  it  does 
the  river  it  leaves  the  sliadows,  and  with  many 
a  turn  and  twist,  through  a  stretch  of  meadow, 
where  the  hardbacks  and  the  polyi)ods  fringe  its 
banks,  and  the  herons  hide,  and  bittens  lioom,  it 
joins  at  last  "  the  brimming  river. "  Slyly  glid- 
ing l)ehind  a  little  hendock  islet  it  there  mingles 
its  wutew  with  the  greater  stream. 


LITNOH  BY  THE  BROOKSIDE. 


76 


But  let  us  return  to  the  little  bridge.  From 
the  northward  comes  the  brook,  winding  here 
and  there  through  meadow  and  swamp,  from  its 
source  miles  away  among  the  hills  and  barrens. 
For  the  moat  part  of  the  distance  it  has  loitered 
through  meadows,  where  it  becomes  deep  and 
smooth  —  a  beautiful  mirror  reflecting  the  upper 
world  in  softened  shades,  where  the  sky  is  a  ten- 
derer blue,  and  shrubs  and  grass  and  trees  are 
therein  pictured  with  a  softening  touch  of  beauty. 
Hither  come  the  herons  to  dress  their  plumes, 
the  swallows  to  run  down  their  prey,  and  the 
dragon-flies  all  day  long  court  this  "  amorous 
looking-glass  "  in  many  a  wayward  dash  and  turn. 

But  I  must  not  loiter  also>  Here,  then,  betwixt 
the  road  and  a  pole  dam,  we  will  rest  and  re- 
fresh ourselves  with  the  water  at  our  feet.  There 
are  so  many  native  inhabitant's  of  this  spot  that 
one  will  needs  bo  blind  not  to  heed  them.  With- 
out stirring  ten  rods  away  one  might  find  enougli 
of  life  to  employ  him  for  yeai-s  in  observing  it 
and  writing  down  what  he  learned.  At  a  vent- 
ure, within  a  circle  of  ten  rods  in  dijimeter  grow 
fifty  different  species  of  plants  or  vegetable  life  ; 
of  animal  life,  including  birds  and  beasts  and  in- 
sects of  all  kinds,  there  are  still  more.  One  may 
hit  on  this  tiny  rustic  bridge,  and  luxuri«)usly  hang 
liis  legs  over  the  end  of  it,  till  his  feet  almost 


;-ti 


V  (■;., 


i  i  • 


I  '''1 


h4 


u. 


70 


IN  THE  ACADIAN   LAND. 


'J  I 


touch  the  water,  where  the  long-legged  skippers 
are  hurrying  in  hasty  skating-liko  strides  hitlier 
and  thither.  These  are  a  species  of  bugs.  Tlicre 
is  a  rather  huge  family  of  them.  Tiio  older  name 
of  our  species  is  Q-erriaremiges.  If  one  will  throw 
crumbs  of  bread  to  them  they  will  eagerly  seize 
bits  of  it  and  scurry  away  as  fast  as  possible. 
Some  of  them  are  provided  with  wings,  but  1  have 
never  yet  observed  one  of  them  flying.  About 
midsummer  one  may  see  myriads  of  young  ones, 
small  copies  of  the  parents.  Tlicy  are  all  sharp- 
sighted  and  quick  to  move  on  the  appearance  of 
danger  from  below  or  above,  especially  from  the 
water.  It  is  very  interesting  to  notice  how  their 
feet  press  tlie  water  into  little  dimples,  but  do 
not  become  wet  and  sink  into  it ;  they  are  clad  all 
over  with  waterproof  down.  Many  of  them  live 
over  winter,  mostly  crawling  under  water  in  fa- 
vorable localities  among  sunken  brush  and  drift- 
wood. In  the  spring  tlie  eggs  are  laid  on  twigs 
and  dead  gnisses  about  tlie  water.  They  live  on 
smaller  insects,  but  not  leaving  the  water  for  tiiat 
purpose. 

These  little  oai-smen  are  not  the  only  claim- 
ant* of  these  shores.  Here  are  other  Ijoatmen 
with  oars,  but  they  do  not  percli  themselves 
up  on  long  stilt-like  legs,  but  rest  their  bodies  flat 
on  the  water.  These  are  the  ^^  whirligig  beetles,  '* 


LUNCH   BY  THE   BROOKSIDR. 


77 


vea 
flat 


Oyrinu%  natator.  We  have  all  seen  them  looking 
80  trim  and  tight  in  their  steel-blue  armor,  whirl- 
ing about  each  other  by  means  of  invisible  legs, 
or  huddling  together  side  by  side  in  the  sociable 
fashion.  If  we  manage  to  catch  one  he  will  prove 
worth  looking  at,  as  much  so  .is  an  elephant,  when 
one  gets  his  eyes  open  and  full  of  curiosity  to  learn 
of  everything.  With  a  little  pocket  glass  we  may 
plainly  see  tliat  there  are  two  prominent  beetle 
eyes  on  each  side  of  the  head.  These  are  joined 
side  by  side,  and  when  the  beetle  is  on  the  water 
the  lower  eye  is  under  the  surface  and  the  upper 
one  out  of  water.  This  is  a  very  convenient  ar- 
rangement for  a  creature  with  fish  enemies  be- 
neath him  and  bird  enemies  above  him.  Now 
this  beetle  belongs  to  a  group  of  insects  that  are 
good  crawlers,  as  a  rule,  but  if  we  capture  one  of 
those  "  whirligigs, "  and  let  him  try  to  walk,  we 
will  see  that  he  cannot  "  get  a  move  on  him,  "  as 
the  boys  say.  His  limbs  have  become  oaw  and 
paddles  and  graspei*s. 

I  say  they  have  become  thus,  because  there  i.s 
abundant  evidence  to  show  that  tliey  are  de- 
scendants of  l)eetles  that  lived  on  the  land,  and 
cmwled  and  flew,  as  most  of  them  do  now.  In 
the  always  hard  struggle  for  existence  the  dis- 
tant forefather  of  tlie  "whirligigs"  came  to 
frequent  banks  of  streams  and   ponds,  as  good 


mm 


fi 


T 


ill 


|li 


78 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


hunting-grounds.    Much  food  would  tempt  them 
into  the  water,  and   then  those  best  adapted 
to  swim  would  be,  through  many  generations, 
naturally  preserved,  and  the  water  became  their 
home.   The  eyes,  although  two  on  a  side,  are  but 
one  eye  partitioned  for  two  purposes.    Now  if 
we  take  a  pin  and  use  it  carefully  we  can  lift  up 
the  hard  shining  back  in  two  plates  that  cover  a 
pair  of  delicate  and  sickly  wings.  They  ai-e  what 
is  left  of  the  stronger  ones  of  its  distant  ances- 
tors.  They  have  suffered  for  lack  of  use.     I  have 
never  observed  one  in  flight,  but  one  may  see 
them  occasionally  jump  in  the  air  a  few  inches 
when  alarmed  from  below,  and  then  the  wings 
are  used.     They  are  good  divers.     The  eggs  are 
phiced  end-to-end  on  leaves  of  water  plants.    The 
young  are  white  or  whitish  grubs ;  these   when 
full-grown  make  coccoons,  or  web  nests,  on  the 
under  sides  of  leaves  or  twigs  near  the  water,  and 
when  their  time  has  expired  they  find   their  way 
out  and  drop  into  the  water.     One  may  ask,  of 
what  use  it  is  to  know  this  story  about  a  little 
beetle.     True  there  is  no  money  in  it,  but  there 
is  what  is  better  than  money,  there  is  knowledge 
of  a  high  order.   The  same  power  that  designed 
and  sustains  these  little  creatures,  also  designed 
and  sustains  the    univei-se.     Man  is  "fearfully 
and  wonderfully  made, "  and  this  little  insect  is 


LUNCH  B7  THB  BROOKSroS. 


79 


*e 


also  "fearfully  and  wonderfully  made.*'  En- 
closed in  that  burnished  tiny  shell  is  a  complete 
nervous  system,  a  complete  digestive  appai-atus, 
and  organs  of  generation  for  the  propagation  of 
its  kind.  There  are  delicate  muscles  to  move  the 
wings  and  legs.  There  is  a  system  for  the  circu- 
lation of  blood,  organs  for  breathing  air,  and  a 
marvellous  brain  to  preside  over  all,  to  receive 
messages  from  the  eyes  and  ears,  and  act  upon  the 
messages  intelligently.  The  eyes  are  constructed 
of  hundreds  of  little  crystal  facets  or  lenses  on 
the  outside,  while  within,  the  mechanism  of  vis- 
ion is  more  complicated  still.  We  do  not  know 
what  such  a  creature  has  for  a  world.  He  can 
see  and  hear  and  feel,  he  can  suffer  from  hunger 
and  fear,  he  can  act  intelligently,  he  knows  his 
kind  and  likes  to  have  great  numbers  of  them 
about  him.  He  does  not  know  mucli  beyond  his 
little  cove  or  eddy,  and  neither  do  we  ;  he  soon 
comes  to  the  limits  of  his  knowledge,  so  do  we. 
Our  special  advantage  is  in  a  wider  range  of  in- 
telligence, but  in  an  infinite  univei-se  neither  man 
nor  beetle  ever  does  more  than  learn  a  little.  It  is 
our  privilege  to  extend  our  knowledge  by  study- 
ing this  wonderful  world.  No  greater  nor  grander 
is  likely  to  be  found  anywhere,  and  nothing  that 
lives  is  insignificant,  because  all  are  the  products 
of  infinite  resources. 


'M 


4i| 


^ 

\''i'\ 


m 


in 


IF 


I       ;,i 


II 


80 


IN  THE  ACADIAN   LAND. 


This  whirligig  calls  up  another  memYier  of  the 
family  that  has  taken  to  tlie  water.  It  would 
not.  require  much  dredging  up  of  mire  mad  from 
the  brook-bed  above  in  the  meadow  to  secure  a 
specimen.  He  is  dark  brown,  almost  black, 
about  tliree-quarters  of  an  inch  long,  very- 
round  on  the  back,  and  rather  thin.  Hh  legs  are 
adapted  to  swimming.  This  is  the  big  water 
beetle,  Dystlcui  maryinalii.  He  lires  mostly 
under  water,  but  he  must  breathe,  so  he  comes 
to  the  surface,  like  a  porpoise,  once  in  a  while, 
to  get  a  breath,  but  one  scarcely  notices  this 
act,  as  he  makes  but  little  show  of  Iiimself.  He 
is  an  insect  shark,  even  attacking  smiall  fish. 
They  fly  from  one  locality  to  another,  even 
miles  away.  Tlie  males  have  suckers  on  tlieir 
fore  legs  very  much  like  those  on  sqoid  and 
devil-fish ;  these  are  to  better  enable  them  to 
hold  their  victims  while  eating  them. 

While  I  have  been  observing  these  *'  whirli- 
gigs "  another  ^fellow-mortal,  who  wonld  not 
mind  swallowing  them  all  in  a  gulp  or  two,  has 
been  furtively  showing  himself  from  time  to 
time  from  under  the  foam-flecked  shadow  of  the 
bridge.  He  is  about  seven  inches  in  length, 
clad  in  burnished  scales  from  head  to  tail.  His 
si(3^s  glisten  like  polished  bronze,  and  his  red 
fins  winnow  the  water  as  he  rests  aboTe  the  yel- 


IXXCH  BT  THE  BBOOKSIDE. 


81 


IS 

to 
ye 

is 
id 


low  pebljiLeiv.  znd  works  his  sliining  gill-plates, 
tliat  maiuiUin  a  current  through  the  red  net- 
work of  giill*  hy  which  he  breathes.  This  is  no 
other  than  <o>i!ir  common  yellow  perch,  Perca 
fluviatUi*  W  Im  Latin  name.  If  he  were  not  so 
common  ht  ^<onijld  be  thought  a  marvel  of  beauti- 
ful colors-  If  one  is  to  see  him  in  JvU  the  glory 
of  tints  aurfl  *&afles,  he  must  jerk  him  out  of  his 
element  minfct  a  hook.  He  will  come  under  a 
sturdy  yroitatfU  with  his  spiny  fins  spread  angrily 
abro».i,  liiie  a  full-rigged  man-of-war  with  all 
sail  set-  W*  underrate  this  perch  as  a  food 
fish.  Good  jvsdges  of  such  matters  declare  him 
to  be  an  fx/c-^Eent  pan  fish.  One  perch  lays 
about  tweotr-eight  thousand  eggs  as  large  as 
small  poppj  i«€fiH.  They  hatch  in  a  few  days, 
and  in  two  <o>r  tfciree  years  will  reach  an  average 
size.  The  gj^eait  numl)er  of  eggs  indicates  great 
danger  to  e-^^  and  young,  and  one  of  the  most 
serious  if*  hma  the  parent  fish.  They  will  de- 
vour their  owTDi  young,  and  would  not  leave  one 
alive  if  thej  coiald  capture  them  all.  They 
know  young'  fc*&)  make  good  food,  but  tliey  do 
not  know  tkey  liave  any  young  ones.  Very  dif- 
ferent is  tiiiii*  fmora  some  fish,  that  carry  their 
eggs  in  tbeir  gillb^or  others,  that  make  a  nest  of 
sticks  and  g»a»»  and  web  of  their  own  making, 
and  guard  the  eggs  till  they  hatch,  and   the 


lil 


m 
m 


,^i 


ii 


82 


or  THS  ACADIAN  LAND. 


young  through  their  feeblest  stage.  This  species 
of  yellow  perch  will,  with  good  food  and  plenty 
of  it,  grow  to  much  larger  size  than  we  see 
them.  But  now  we  will  let  him  go  and  I  will 
move  over  to  the  pole  dam,  a  rod  or  two  distant, 
where  there  is  an  inviting-looking  puddle,  cool 
and  clear  in  the  shadow. 

It  does  not  take  a  long  search  of  an  experi- 
enced eye  to  discover  the  tyrant  of  this  minia- 
ture pond.  It  is  not  a  fish  nor  a  reptile,  but  an 
insect  "  scarce  half  made  up."  It  is  the  "  devil's 
darning-needle,'*  or  dragon-fly,  one  of  the 
LihellulidcR  in  an  undeveloped  stage.  So  far  as 
outward  appearances  are  concerned,  there  is  no 
hint  of  his  future  destiny,  when  he  will  course 
the  air  in  burnished  armor,  and  ''down  the 
listed  sunbeam  ride  resplendant  with  steel-blue 
mail  and  shield!**  We  may  readily  see  him, 
and  study  him  only  a  few  days,  or  even  hours, 
it  may  be,  before  the  great  change  overtakes 
him.  It  is  a  creature  of  about  one  inch  in 
length,  with  two  stubs  of  what  are  really  wing- 
cases  on  his  fore  back;  the  hinder  portion  of 
his  body  is  grub-like,  covered  with  a  shell. 
There  are  six  stout  legs.  The  head  is  large, 
the  eyes  bulging,  and  jaws  stout.  We  will 
watch  him  closely  now  and  see  him  use  a  "  con- 
cealed weapon  "  that  he  carries  neatly  tucked  up 


f     IHH 


t!    /i 


W   '1 


LUNCH  BY  THE  BBOOKSIDB. 


88 


under  his  ohest.  He  is  a  voracious  fellow,  and 
now  has  his  eye  on  a  small  bug  resting  on  a  bit 
of  grass-blade.  Cautiously  the  dragon  creeps 
forward  to  within  less  than  an  inch,  when  he 
raises  himself  well  up  in  front,  and  shoots  out  a 
bit  of  breast-plate  material  with  two  movable 
arms  coming  out  of  the  forward  end  of  it,  and  a 
sharp  hook  on  each  one  of  them.  This  instru- 
ment is  hinged  to  the  throat,  folds  back  when 
not  in  use,  and  when  needed  is  flung  forward, 
seizing  the  prey  in  the  hooks,  and  is  by  them 
passed  to  the  mouth,  for  whose  service  this  cruel 
tool  is  designed.  If  I  had  been  in  luck  here 
this  creature  would  have  crawled  out  of  the 
water  into  the  sunshine,  selected  a  position  on  a 
log  or  stick  where  he  could  get  a  good  hold  with 
his  claws,  and  then  wait  till  the  sun  dried  his 
shell,  when  it  would  crack  along  the  back ;  at 
that  signal  he  would  begin  to  struggle  out,  till 
in  the  course  of  a  half-hour  he  would  be  clear 
of  it.  During  this  time  his  wings  are  con- 
stantly attempting  to  open,  for  they  are  wet 
and  folded  close,  and  f  they  dry  in  that  con- 
dition all  will  be  over  with  him.  If  there  is  no 
accident,  in  two  hours  he  will  be  standing  be- 
side his  "outgrown  shell,"  glittering  in  brilliant 
hues,  with  wings  delicate  as  a  fairy's  fancy 
might  make  them,  and  quivering  responsive  to 


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84 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


the  air  that  caresses  them.  While  we  admire 
him  he  launches  away  as  if  the  atmosphere 
were  his  native  element,  and  he  loved  the 
breeze  and  the  sunshine.  He  left  behind  him, 
still  clinging  to  its  anchorage,  the  old  husk  with 
its  glassy  eyes  reduced  to  transparent  shards, 
its  clutching  gear  folded  at  its  breast  in  meek 
mockery,  its  claws  deep  sunk  in  their  last  grip. 
The  past  is  past  with  this  dragon  forever ;  there 
will  be  no  revisiting  of  his  old  haunts  where  he 
prowled  for  prey  with  his  grappling  tongs ;  he 
said  no  "  good-bye  "  to  his  useless  shroud  cling- 
ing there  in  mimicry  of  life:  "Let  the  dead 
bury  their  dead." 

Thus  Nature  teaches  us  or  may  teach  us  all 
possible  things  are  easily  possible,  and  it  is 
scarce  harder  to  believe  that  even  human 
creatures  will  in  some  way,  no  more  wonderful, 
enter  upon  a  new  life  for  which  this  is  a  mere 
larval  or  preparatory  stage.  The  book  of  Nature 
is  writ  in  eloquent  language,  and  illustrated  by 
endless  designs,  and  the  more's  the  pity  that 
"the  world  is  so  much  with  us  getting  and 
spending  "  that  we  do  not  have  eyes  nor  eai-s  for 
her  lessons  and  her  delights. 


THE  CAT-OWL. 


in 


"  Intelligence  like  our  own  ia  seen  to  be  looking  out  upon  us 
from  every  tuft  of  grass,  and  from  every  heathery  knoll,  from  the  soli- 
tudes of  the  forests  and  the  shady  dells."  —  Calderwood. 

THIS  midwinter  twilight  I  ride  over  the 
clean  white  track,  and  note  the  changing 
shadows  of  the  departing  day  as  they  deepen 
into  darker  purple  along  the  overhanging  snow- 
drifts, where  the  north  wind,  the  "  fierce  arti- 
ficer," has  built  in  "  frolic  arcliitecture "  the 
endless  curves  of  beauty.  The  voice  of  eveiy 
beast  and  bird  is  hushed,  the  short  twilight  is 
fast  disappearing,  the  solemn  star-eyed  night, 
with  shade  after  shade,  shuts  out  the  distant 
liill  and  nearer  wood.  Like  some  spirit  of  the 
oncoming  darkness,  with  stealthy  wings  a  huge 
bird  comes  directly  towards  me,  like  a  black 
spot  slanting  across  the  snowy  background. 
He  passed  me  with  an  upward  swirl  of  his 
strong  pinions,  and  turns  his  ugly  countenance 
on  me  with  a  twist  of  his  neck,  and  I  can  see 
the  yellow-green  of  his  eyes,  the  hook  of  his 


.■■'-(« 


r 


r 


86 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


n  t 


t:       '.i 


bill,  and  his  cruel  claws  drawn  up  into  fists  and 
ready  for  action.  There  is  no  need  to  mistake 
the  mission  of  this  feathered  marauder.  All 
day  long  he  has  slept  and  dozed  in  the  gloomi- 
est retreat  of  yonder  hemlock  wood.  As  the 
day  wore  on  the  pangs  of  hunger  grew  stronger ; 
the  eyes  opened  wider  as  the  fading  light  went 
out.  He  must  have  meat  or  he  must  die.  No 
other  food  will  keep  life  in  him.  He  has  glided 
off  his  perch  to  kill  something.  For  that  pur- 
pose is  he  equipped  with  night-seeing  eyes  like 
tigers  and  cats,  with  fierce  and  strong  claws 
and  tearing  beak.  His  noiseless  wings  are 
covered  with  a  velvet-like  texture  of  finest 
feather-work.  He  expects  to  pounce  on  some 
sleeping  bird  or  feeding  rabbit.  This  is  the 
cat-owl,  or  horned  owl  (^Buho  virginianus). 
He  has  no  need  to  fear  any  enemy  but  man. 
Tlie  whole  family  of  them  seem  to  represent  a 
night  side  of  Nature.  They  have  never  been  in 
favor  with  mankind.  Their  solitary  habits, 
their  preference  for  dark  places  in  the  daytime, 
their  murderous  dispositions  have  all  been 
against  them,  from  our  point  of  view.  Pliny, 
the  old  Roman  author,  says  of  owls :  "  They 
are  the  very  ministers  of  the  night,  neither  cry- 
ing nor  singing  clear,  but  uttering  certain 
heavy  groans,  and  if  therefore  they  be  seen 


:;l  i 
il  '. 


THE  CAT-OWL. 


87 


within  cities,  or  otherwise  abroad  in  any  place, 
it  is  not  good,  but  foretellent  some  fearful  mis- 
fortune." Shakespeare  often  introduces  the 
owl  to  intensify  some  feature  of  horror  or  dread, 
and  that  was  the  prevalent  feeling  about  them 
in  England.  Thus,  in  a  famous  play.  Lady 
Macbeth  listens  to  the  receding  steps  of  her 
husband  as  he  goes  into  another  room  to  mur- 
der King  Duncan,  and  she  exclaims,  "Hark! 
Peace  !  It  was  the  owl  that  shrieked,  the  fatal 
bellman  which  givest  the  stern'st  good-night ! " 
In  England  it  is  a  belief  in  the  rural  districts 
that  owl's  broth  is  a  great  remedy  for  the 
cramp.  Sometimes  I  have  taken  off  their  skins 
when  they  were  too  fat  for  comfort.  The  broth 
might  be  palatable.  One  need  not  be  very 
hungry  before  making  trial  of  its  food  qualities. 
If  this  particular  owl  I  mentioned  does  not 
feast  on  rabbit  to-night,  then  his  calculations 
will  be  upset,  for  he  laid  his  course  a  little 
beyond  a  bit  of  swamp,  where  rabbits  have 
their  feeding-grounds.  Already  they  are  out, 
jumping  here  and  there,  cutting  the  tender 
twigs  for  food.  Hark,  now,  to  the  pitiful  child- 
like cry  that  rings  out  on  the  frosty  air  I  There 
is  a  forest  tragedy  being  enacted  over  there.  A 
few  more  fainter  screams  and  sobs  and  all  is  still. 
It  was  the  "  Passing  "  of  poor  Bunny.     Life  was 


•r- 

4- 


9rM 
■;!'.■ 


88 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


sweet  to  him.  All  day  he  sat  in  a  snug  retreat 
beneath  a  bush,  and,  urged  by  hunger,  leaped 
nimbly  forth  to  fill  himself  with  the  food  that  no 
other  creature  wanted.  I  do  not  need  to  witness 
the  performance  this  time  to  realize  what  it  was. 
In  an  instant  that  great  black  shadow  was  upon 
him,  with  upraised  wings  and  gleaming  yellow 
eyes,  and  crooked,  sharp,  long  claws  driven 
deep  into  the  quivering  sides  of  his  victim,  that 
struggles  in  vain  with  such  a  foe.  This  feath- 
ered beast  will  fill  himself,  eating  even  the  skin 
and  bones  if  his  appetite  is  keen.  I  have  ob- 
served one  devour  a  full-grown  rabbit  at  a  meal 
that  lasted  over  an  hour.  One  must  not  suppose 
that  all  this  crude  material  goes  through  his 
digesting  machinery.  Nature  has  been  very 
considerate  in  his  case  ;  he  has  no  need  to  pick 
and  cull,  but  bolts  it  down  wholesale,  and  after 
an  hour  or  two  the  hair  and  bones  will  be  snugly 
put  up  in  cartridge-like  lumps,  and  sent  back 
the  way  they  came  down.  If  this  owl  had  not 
been  in  luck  with  the  rabbit  he  would  have 
looked  sharp  for  a  sleeping  partridge,  or  some 
other  bird  with  its  head  under  its  wing.  Doubt- 
less he  sometimes  hunts  all  night  long  in  vain, 
and  waits  another  day  for  a  meal.  I  have 
killed  one  of  these  owls,  that  might  have  been 
taken  for  a  skunk  if  one's  nose  alone  was  al- 


THE  CAT-OWL. 


89 


lowed  to  testify.  Other  men  have  had  a  like 
experience  with  them.  I  do  not  know  whether 
these  owls  actually  kill  and  eat  skunks.  I  de- 
sired to  get  at  the  inside  of  the  one  that  fell  to 
my  gun,  to  make  sure  about  it,  but  a  close  ac- 
quaintance like  that  required  was  out  of  the 
question.  It  may  be  that  they  are  pounced 
upon  through  a  mistake,  and  it  may  be  that  the 
owl  is  insensible  to  the  odor.  It  may  be  that 
he  likes  it.  People  are  fond  of  musk,  secreted 
by  a  species  of  deer,  and  the  skunk-odor  is  a 
glandular  product  a  trifle  more  pungent,  and 
might  be  exactly  of  the  desired  strength  to 
tickle  the  smell-sense  of  the  cat-owl.  If  one 
could  see  the  animals  of  various  kinds  that  a 
single  owl  of  this  species  eats  in  a  lifetime  it 
would  be  truly  surprising.  They  subsist  on 
birds  and  rabbits  and  mice  and  frogs  — an  average 
of  one  a  day  is  a  moderate  estimate.  Here  and 
there  an  individual  would  live  ten  years ;  but 
for  accidents  and  hard  times  they  might  well 
live  twice  as  long.  The  fact  that  they  lay  but 
two  eggs  at  a  hatching  and  rear  only  one  brood 
in  a  season  is  proof  that  they  are  well  secured 
against  enemies,  or  they  would  soon  run  out 
altogether.  The  robin  lays  four  eggs,  and  brings 
out  two  broods  of  young,  and  still  just  holds  her 
own  ;  the  young  that  reach  maturity  are  only 


^  .ii 


'■1^ 


m 


4-^ 

i  'ft 


fi 
4 


Ivf'S 


K-  7 


U<  •        1 


m\\ 


90 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


enough  to  fill  up  the  ranks  where  the  adult 
birds  perish  in  one  way  and  another.  If  the 
young  owls  can  get  through  the  first  year  they 
will  be  over  the  most  dangerous  ground,  but 
there  is  a  point  when  they  demand  great  quan- 
tities of  food  and  yet  are  not  old  enough  to  get 
it  for  themselves.  The  parent  birds  are  often 
hard  driven  to  furnish  enough  to  meet  their 
own  wants,  and  enough  for  their  gluttonous 
babies.  There,  doubtless,  is  the  pinch  where 
some  of  them  perish.  So  far  as  we  can  see, 
there  is  no  need  to  proteot  owls.  They  are  a 
scourge  on  small  useful  birds,  and  a  shotgun 
can  be  employed  to  advantage  on  them  all. 


r  i 


LEDGES. 


•'Speak  to  the  earth  and  it  shall  teach  thee."— Job, 

WITHIN  a  half  mile  of  the  main  road  on 
the  way  to  Molega  there  is  a  sharp 
upraise,  and  a  sudden  turn  to  get  over  a  quart- 
zite  ledge  that  abruptly  bars  the  way.  One  may 
see  it,  like  an  old  battered  hand-made  wall  run- 
ning off  to  east  and  west  through  the  brackens 
and  scrub  underbrush.  It  is  only  five  or  six 
feet  in  height  at  best,  and  it  dips  or  slants  a 
little  to  the  northward.  All  this  steep  side  is 
more  or  less  cracked  and  rent,  affording  rootage 
for  rock  polypod,  ferns,  dwarf  spruce  and  tirs, 
and  other  plants  of  the  locality.  On  the  more 
or  less  bare  surface  cf  this  ledge,  a  few  rods  in 
width,  there  is  a  most  interesting  variety  of  vege- 
table life.  There  are  great  gray  carpets  of 
white  lichens,  clean  and  cool,  and  in  June  they 
are  bordered  with  nodding  lady's-slippers,  or 
cypripediums,  fashioned  like  daintiest  shells. 
Slender  wire-birches,  clad  in  gray  and  green, 
stand  guard  over  those  woodland  gems,  that  the 


J  iff 

!';■  S  -I 
i.  :, 

H 


'J 
m 


92 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


sun  shall  not  smite  them,  while  they  have  their 
days  of  beautiful  existence.  And  all  the  Avhile 
the  roots  become  charged  with  some  subtle 
medicament  that  has  power  to  heal  the  shattered 
nerves  of  weary  men,  as  the  bloom  has  a  charm 
to  minds  and  hearts  that  love  all  lovely  things. 
Let  us  go  back  to  the  ledge  itself ;  flowers  can 
have  no  greater  interest.  When  we  stand  upon 
its  shattered  flank  we  are  then  on  "  bed-rock," 
as  the  miners  call  it,  or  on  the  "  country  rock,"  as 
the  geologists  term  it.  Between  our  feet  and 
the  other  side  of  this  globe  the  distance  is 
about  eight  thousand  miles ;  all  the  way  it  is 
some  kind  of  solid  rock  or  metal.  The  soil,  the 
mud,  and  gravel,  and  sand,  in  which  men  plant 
and  sow,  and  Nature  grows  her  forests,  is  noth- 
ing more  than  rocks  made  more  or  less  fine  and 
mixed  with  some  vegetable  mould.  This  earth 
is  really  a  ball  of  stone  or  mineral  about  as 
heavy  as  if  it  were  iron,  and  it  floats  through 
space  like  a  bubble  in  the  air,  or  a  toy  bal- 
loon rolling  over  and  over  along  the  viewless 
track  around  the  sun,  that  is  fourteen  hun- 
dred thousand  times  larger  than  this  toy  world, 
that  can  neither  get  away  from  it  nor  fall 
into  it.  We  live  on  the  outside,  at  the  bot- 
tom of  an  ocean  of  air,  a  few  miles  in  depth, 
and  with  us  are  a  great  many  other  people, 


LEDGES. 


08 


some  with  two  legs,  some  with  six,  some  with 
none. 

This  reef  or  ledge  is  called  quartzite  be- 
cause it  is  made  up  of  grains  of  quartz  sand 
tliat  were  made  by  rocks  rolling  each  other 
on  a  seashoie  tliat  existed  before  the  "moun- 
tains were  brought  forth,"  before  animal  life 
existed  on  the  naked,  treeless  land  of  the  world. 
Time  must  be  reckoned  by  many  million  yeaiy 
since  the  sand  beach  was  formed  tliat  in  the 
long  run  went  to  the  making  of  this  old  ledge 
at  our  feet.  One  might  be  tempted  to  deny 
that  we  can  know  so  much  of  its  age,  but  care- 
ful study  makes  it  certain  that  we  do  know. 
This  earth  is  a  globe  for  the  same  reasons  that 
a  dewdrop  hanging  on  a  grass-blade,  or  a  rain- 
drop falling  through  the  air,  is  a  globe.  It  was 
once  liquid,  and  took  this  shape  by  laws  of 
attraction,  as  tlie  sun,  moon,  and  stars  did  the 
same.  All  the  rocks  and  metals  were  once 
melted ;  then  there  was  no  water  and  no  atmos- 
phere like  we  now  have.  Hydrogen  and  oxy- 
gen gases  became  chemically  united,  and  water 
was  the  result.  The  first  rain  was  warm ;  the 
first  ocean  covered  all  the  earth,  and  was  boil- 
ing hot ;  the  steam  from  it  cooled  and  returned, 
as  rain,  and  was  sent  back,  and  thus  the  ocean 
was  cooled.     No  one  was  there  to  observe  all 


i'        .    [   ']l 

f:         ■I 


94 


IN  THE  ACADIAN   LAND. 


this,  but  we  know  it  as  a  hunter  knows  where 
his  game  has  been,  by  his  tracks. 

Our  world  had  a  beginning;  it  will  have 
an  ending.  The  nightly  skies  show  pavilions  of 
suns  clustering  in  millions  beyond  the  reach  of 
all  instruments.  Among  an  endless  procession 
of  worlds  ours  is  included.  Whether  this  ledge 
of  rock  was  begun  twenty  million  or  forty 
million  yeara  ago  is  all  the  same,  when  we  con- 
sider that  time  had  no  beginning  and  can  have 
no  ending.  We  measure  it  by  our  sunshine,  but 
if  all  suns  were  instantly  quenched,  time  would 
survive.  We  do  not  alter  the  passage  of  time 
by  stopping  all  the  clocks,  so  if  all  suns  disap- 
peared events  could  transpire,  plMiough  the 
scale  of  measuring  their  duration  was  lost. 
Eternity  reaches  backward  as  well  as  forward. 
We  are  never  in  it,  because  the  present  is  neither 
in  it  nor  out  of  it,  and  we  only  live  instant  by 
instant.  So  we  need  not  scant  ourselves  with 
timo  in  considering  the  geological  history  of  the 
globe.  We  are  obliged  to  reckon  in  millions  of 
years  when  dealing  with  this  subject. 

If  we  go  into  the  eastern  part  of  our  province, 
the  coal  mines  will  be  there  to  interest  you.  If 
you  do  not  already  know,  then  you  may  readily 
know  that  the  coal  beds  of  the  world  are  formed 
of  leaves,  branches  and   trunks   of  trees,   and 


LEDGES. 


95 


ferns.  You  will  also  learn  by  examining  the 
coal,  or  by  reading  proper  books,  that  this 

vegetation  grew  so  long  ago  that  there  was  not 
a  flower  in  existence,  and  all  the  plant  life  was 
flowerless,  like  our  ferns  and  club  mosses.  This 
ledge  is  millions  of  years  older  than  tlie  coal 
mines.  To  prove  this  we  can  show  that  a  series 
of  rocks  lies  between  it  and  the  coal,  and  they 
are  made  up  of  sand  that  was  formed  on  the  sea- 
shore. In  the  Annapolis  valley  at  Nictaux  one 
may  see  these  Devonian  rocks  packed  with  fossil 
shells.  This  ledge  was  made  of  rocks  still  older ; 
it  belongs  to  the  very  lowest  or  earliest  of  water- 
made  rocks.  The  first  rocks  were  cooled  lavas, 
and  when  an  ocean  began  to  surge  and  break 
against  the  low  sides  of  a  crumbling  crust  then 
sand  and  mud  were  formed,  and  sedimentary  rocks 
were  in  the  making ;  our  old  ledge  that  runs  along 
like  an  ancient  rib  of  the  earth  was  then  begun. 
The  sullen  waves  in  ceaseless  action  reduced  the 
shore  lines  to  material  that  the  undertow  and  tides 
carried  backward,  where  it  fell  to  the  bottom,  and 
by  natural  action  of  gravity  and  elements  was 
assorted  in  strata  or  layers  of  coarse  sand  and 
fine  muds  ;  one  to  form  quartzite  like  the  ledge, 
the  other  to  form  slates  that  we  find  exposed 
or  hidden  running  beside  them. 

If  this  earth  were  a  dead  body,  an  unmoving 


H 


96 


IN  THB  ACADIAN   LAND. 


II    ■ 


thing,  that  never  shrunk,  and  shivered  and  shook, 
and  groaned,  and  tilted  up  and  down,  then  these 
layera  of  mud  and  sand  would  have  remained 
flat  on  the  floor  of  the  ocean,  and  there  would 
be  no  ledge  for  us  to  observe  and  discuss.  But 
quite  otherwise  is  the  truth. 

A  very  shaky  affair  is  our  old  planet.  It  is 
cracked  and  mended  in  millions  of  places ;  wher- 
ever a  quartz  vein  exists  there  was  once  a  rent. 
The  rocky  crests  of  the  loftiest  mountains  are 
often  gleaming  with  imbedded  fossil  shells,  that 
were  ocean-born.  Deep  down  in  the  great  mines 
one  hears  the  groaning  of  the  mighty  strata  of 
rocks.  Tliis  is  a  cooling  planet,  and  as  it  cools 
it  shrinks,  and  the  hard  crust  rises  in  great  crum- 
ples of  mountain  ranges.  On  a  small  scale,  a 
baked  apple  is  wrinkled ;  the  inside  has  become 
smaller,  while  the  skin  has  not  shrunken.  Dur- 
ing this  shrinkage  our  infant  ledge  was,  with  all 
the  adjoining  rocks,  pushed  sidewise  into  waves 
or  crumples,  thus  forcing  what  was  once  a  flat 
surface  of  rock  into  various  slants  or  angles,  and 
at  the  same  time  pushing  them  out  of  water. 
Through  many  million  yeai-s  the  agencies  of  air 
and  atmosphere,  and  heat  and  cold,  and  ice,  and 
mighty  glaciers  and  running  waters,  have  worn 
away  the  highest  parts  of  the  ridges,  and  left 
the  hardest  portions   tipped  on  edge    by   the 


Hi  'i 


LEDGES. 


97 


shrinkage  of  the  globe,  and  shining  grim  and 
gaunt  above  the  kindly  attempt  of  Nature  to 
cover  it  with  the  leaves  and  flowers  of  a  later 
world. 

Here,  then,  is  a  most  interesting  antiquity. 
It  is  crowded  with  inscriptions,  written  all  over 
with  the  records  of  past  ages.  To  be  able  to 
read  them  gives  an  added  charm  to  life,  and  the 
time  to  give  to  such  lessons  is  so  far  from  lost 
that  it  is  devoted  to  an  elevated  and  worthy 
task. 


at 
md 

ber. 
air 


)rn 

left 

the 


i 

BB 


li" 


"■■01  ! 


i( 


BATS. 


"  If  Indeed  thy  heart  were  right,  then  would  erery  creature  be  to 
thee  a  mirror  of  life,  a  book  of  holy  doctrine."  —  Tuohas  1 
Kbmpis. 

THIS  midsummer  evening  a  bat  flitted  out 
of  the  shadow,  dodging  hither  and 
thither  after  the  manner  of  his  kind.  I  doubt 
if  there  is  another  animal  common  to  our  coun- 
try so  often  seen  and  about  which  so  little  is 
generally  known.  It  is  all  the  more  surprising 
when  we  consider  what  a  truly  wonderful  creat- 
ure it  is.  On  the  wing  nothing  is  more  agile, 
on  the  ground  it  is  helplessness  personified. 
Birds  and  insects  can  fly,  but  they  can  also 
walk  or  hop,  or  run  or  crawl,  but  a  bat  can  do 
no  more  than  hitch  himself  along  on  his  fore- 
elbows  and  hinder  feet.  When  at  rest  he 
neither  lies  down,  nor  sits  up,  nor  goes  to  roost, 
but  he  hangs  himself  up  by  his  thumb-nails  and 
rests  his  body  in  the  slack  of  his  wings.  He 
has  been  a  puzzle  to  people,  who  could  not 
make  out  where  he  belongs  in  the  animal  king- 


BATS. 


99 


dom.  In  the  Mosaic  law  he  is  classed  with 
birds :  "  The  stork  and  heron,  the  lapwing  and 
the  bat,"  all  unclean  (Lev.  11 :  19).  But 
bird  he  certainly  is  not,  neither  is  he  nearly- 
related  to  birds.  The  Arabs,  a  kindred  people 
to  the  Jews,  call  it  Gessim-al-sheytan,  meaning 
"devil's  bird."  The  Germans  call  it  Fleder- 
maus,  or  "flying  mouse."  Always  a  creature 
of  ill  omen.  Among  the  Greeks  it  was  sacred 
to  Proserpine,  the  queen  of  hell.  Among  the 
old  Norse  or  Northmen  it  figures  in  their 
literature  as  a  messenger  of  the  Goddess  of 
Darkness  and  Death.  Painters  always  use  the 
wings  of  bats  for  the  Devil  and  his  imps,  and 
the  wings  of  birds  for  angels,  —  not  that  there 
is  any  good  reason  for  the  choice,  beyond  the 
general  dislike  of  the  bats. 

As  a  rule  they  are  not  only  harmless  but  of 
no  small  service  to  mankind,  for  they  live  on 
insects,  which  they  destroy  in  great  numbers. 
I  say  as  a  rule,  for  there  are  bats  in  South 
America  that  alight  on  cattle  and  even  sleeping 
people,  and  bite  till  the  blood  starts,  and  fill 
themselves  with  it.  In  the  Islands  of  the  East- 
ern Ocean  —  Java  and  Batavia  —  there  are 
fruiireating  bats,  looking  not  unlike  foxes  and 
as  large  as  a  cat,  with  wings  measuring  four 
feet  from  tip  to  tip.    They  are  fond  of  bananas 


91 


I 


i  mi 


i 


100 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


and  prove  very  destructive  to  plantations. 
There  are  about  four  hundred  species  known  to 
science.  They  are  to  be  found  in  all  climates, 
even  where  it  is  much  colder  than  in  Nova 
Scotia.  During  the  cold  season,  of  fully  six 
months,  they  congregate  in  caves,  hanging  to 
the  roof  in  great  bunches,  where  they  have  been 
found  in  midwinter  white  with  frost  but  un- 
frozen and  alive.  With  us  they  pass  the  winter 
in  old  buildings  where  they  can  hide  under  the 
finish,  also  in  hollow  trees,  and  holes  among 
rocks,  etc.  It  is  truly  wonderful  that  they  are 
not  frozen  in  such  localities,  where  the  tem- 
perature must  be  often  many  degrees  below 
freezing.  Old  Nature  knows  the  way,  and 
these  curious  animals,  slung  in  their  wings, 
sleep  on  during  half  a  year,  without  fuel  or 
nourishment,  and  awake  to  renew  the  perils  and 
pleasures  of  an  existence  that  would  hardly 
seem  worth  the  having. 

It  will  be  worth  the  study  to  examine  the 
wing  structui-e  of  a  bat.  The  wings  of  a  bird 
are  constructed  on  the  two  fore  limbs.  They 
are  arms  and  wrists  and  fingers  with  quills  and 
feathers  on  them.  Until  the  wrist  is  reached 
the  bones  are  very  much  like  our  own,  the 
fingers  are  soldered  together,  and  on  them  are 
supported  the  long  quills.    From  the  wrist  to 


! 


BATS. 


101 


ley 
Ind 
led 
the 
ire 
to 


the  elbow  the  secondary  quills  are  merely  glued 
or  stuck  at  the  very  ends  to  the  arm  bone,  the 
ulna.  The  thumb  appears  as  a  hook  in  some 
birds ;  in  others  it  has  an  outgrowth  of  a  short 
quill,  "  a  spurious  primary."  Now  the  wing  of 
a  bat  is  arranged  on  a  fore  leg  or  a  fore  arm, 
but  on  a  different  plan  from  the  bird.  The  five 
fingers  are  very  long,  and  between  them  is 
stretched  a  most  delicate  membrane,  that  ex- 
tends backward  around  the  body  from  both 
sides  of  it,  and  takes  in  the  hinder  legs  and  tail 
in  all  insect-eating  bats.  Fruit-eating  bats,  in 
some  instances,  do  not  have  the  wings  extend- 
ing backward  to  the  tail. 

There  is  no  other  animal  with  such  an  ar- 
rangement for  flight.  In  the  far  East  there  is  a 
tree-frog  with  very  long  toes  on  all  four  feet, 
and  these,  being  webbed,  are  used  not  for  swim- 
ming, nor  properly  for  flying,  but  as  aids  to 
jumping,  like  our  so-called  flying-squirrel. 
When  this  frog  desires  to  jump  from  one  tree 
to  another  within  range,  he  makes  the  leap, 
spreads  his  legs  and  toes,  and  glides  forward 
and  downward;  but  this  is  not  true  flying. 
Our  bat  is  an  expert  on  the  wing ;  no  bird  is 
quite  his  equal  when  it  comes  to  short  turns,  as 
any  one  knows  who  has  tried  to  bring  one  down 
in  a  room.    The  wings  are  richly  supplied  with 


r, 


102 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


nerves,  and  are  sensitive  to  a  degree  that  we 
can  hardly  imagine.  Through  that  means  the 
animal  feeh  the  presence  of  near  objects  even 
in  dark  rooms  and  caves,  and  avoids  them. 
Probably  there  is  a  sensible  difference  in  the  air 
currents  near  any  object.  Many  species  of  bats 
have  peculiar  leaf-like  structures  growing 
straight  up  from  the  end  of  the  nose,  and  these 
are  thought  to  be  feelers. 

It  is  well  known  that  bats  live  upon  flying 
bugs  and  beetles  that  are  out  for  an  airing  at 
night.  It  is  also  a  common  saying,  "  Blind  as  a 
bat."  Now,  if  a  bat  is  blind,  how  does  he  man- 
age to  find  his  food  in  the  dusky  twilight,  and 
even  in  the  dark?  The  fact  is  he  has  very 
keen  sight,  and  also  very  sensitive  wings,  to  tell 
him  if  he  has  run  against  any  living  thing  that 
may  serve  as  food.  I  think  it  is  not  generally 
known  how  they  are  captured.  The  mouth  is 
small;  there  are  no  hands,  no  bill,  nothing, 
apparently,  to  aid  in  capturing  his  prey.  He 
makes  a  net  of  his  wings,  he  draws  his  tail  well 
under  him  when  about  to  take  an  insect,  thus 
forming  a  bag,  and  the  insect  is  run  down  and 
run  into  it,  and  then  seized  and  eaten.  One  may 
readily  observe  them  do  this;  they  halt  in  a 
hurried,  scuffing  way  and  then  go  on  for  more. 
When  one  considers  that  they  have  no  nests  to 


i 


BATS. 


103 


lie  down  in,  no  roosts  to  sit  on,  then  the  matter 
of  caring  for  their  young  becomes  a  curious 
problem.  I  will  try  to  explain :  Two  are  gen- 
erally born  at  a  birth ;  they  are  very  small,  help- 
less creatures.  The  mother  places  them  at  her 
breasts,  and  they  cling  to  her  hair  with  the 
hinder  claws  and  thumb  hooks,  and  there  they 
remain  till  they  are  able  to  fly.  By  some  natu- 
ralists it  is  stated  that  the  male  bats  assist  in 
carrying  the  young,  but  this  is  very  likely  a 
mistake,  as  they  could  not  feed  them.  Some 
tropical  bats  are  almost  without  hair,  but  they 
have  pockets  or  pouches  in  which  the  young  are 
carried,  as  they  could  not  cling  to  them.  The 
next  time  one  of  my  readers  runs  screaming 
away  from  one  of  our  harmless  little  bats  let 
her  take  a  second  thought  of  this  tiny  fellow- 
creature,  so  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made,  so 
richly  endowed  with  motherly  feeling,  so  ten- 
derly cared  for  by  a  Providence  that  overlooks  no 
living  thing,  and  marks  a  sparrow's  fall  or  a 
planet's  birth.  Much  more  than  I  have  set 
down  is  to  be  learned  of  the  habits  of  these 
animals. 

Th6y  are  not  at  all  related  to  mice.  Their 
teeth  are  near  to  the  moles.  For  a  very  long 
time  they  have  been  in  the  world.  Their  fossil 
remains  are  found  in  rocks  whose  origin  was 


I 


I  : 


104 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


II  ii 

4  ■*'    i.-: 


many  million  years  ago.  They  clustered  in  the 
twilight  and  captured  their  prey  ages  before 
man  came  on  this  earth.  Some  time,  doubtless, 
the  earlier  rocks  will  reveal  the  remains  of  their 
immediate  ancestry,  which  is  not  now  known. 

In  all  these  chapters  I  take  it  for  granted 
that  all  our  forms  of  life  are  outgrowths  from 
older  and  different  forms.  There  are  about  ten 
million  different  species  of  animal  and  vegetable 
life  now  known  to  science,  and  there  are  vast 
numbers  of  microbes  that  are  visible  only  with 
the  best  microscopes.  All  observation  and  rea- 
soning warrant  the  belief  that  there  were  not 
ten  million  separate  creations,  but  they  are  the 
varied  branches  from  one  or  a  few  original  liv- 
ing creatures  of  simple  structure.  We  can  say 
vjrith  certainty  that  all  naturalists  take  that 
view  of  the  matter,  because  it  explains  numer- 
ous dilHculties,  and  harmonizes  conflicting 
phenomena. 


Ili 


BY  THE  RIVERSIDE. 


1 
1 

B 
t 
il 
L- 
it 

e 

r- 

,t 


"  The  earth  is  all  enchanted  ground.    With  its  light  and  fhade, 
itf  ebb  aud  flow,  it  is  all  thine."  —  Pajrsbb  Scriptures. 

WITHIN  a  mile  or  more  of  the  gold  mines 
on  this  road  of  many  marvels  there  is 
a  bridge  crossing  the  Wildcat  River.  This  is 
a  brisk  stream,  forty  or  fifty  feet  in  width  at 
this  point,  but  a  few  rods  below  it  opens  into  a 
large  pond,  where  the  white  and  yellow  lilies 
grow,  where  the  wild  ducks  feed,  and  the  swal- 
lows skim  its  gleaming  surface. 

I  have  lialted  here  this  October  afternoon 
because  many  things  invited  me,  and  there  was 
no  good  reason  why  I  should  not  accept  the 
invitations.  There  are  no  lovelier  days  in  all 
the  year  than  these.  June  has  its  peculiar 
charms  of  unrolling  leaves,  of  white  banners  on 
the  wild-pear  trees,  and  all  the  promise  of 
flower  and  fruit,  but  October  is  the  realization 
of  the  promise.  The  barns  are  filled,  the 
meadows  are  picturesque  with  stacks  of  hay 
peeping  out  of  the  alders  and  red-leaved  maples, 


106 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


i 


like  domes  of  Eastern  temples  in  a  picture 
landscape. 

In  these  early  sunny  days  of  the  month  the 
atmosphere  is  perfect,  the  light  is  softened  and 
tempered  by  the  tints  and  colors  of  ripened 
foliage.  Thistles  and  milkweeds  have  sent 
their  winged  seeds  on  the  friendly  winds  to  be 
sown  far  and  wide,  to  improve  their  chances 
for  life ;  and  now,  looking  into  the  sunbeam, 
one  sees  these  silken  voyagers  loitering  and 
playing  with  the  zephyrs,  till  the  dew-damp  air 
saturates  their  wings  and  they  come  to  earth, 
perchance  to  germ  and  grow,  perchance  to 
perish. 

Amid  all  this  autumn  ripeness  here  is  our 
witch-hazel,  Hamamelis  virginianus^  tricked  out 
in  the  bravery  of  yellow  flowers,  growing  on 
the  same  branches  with  the  nut-like  seeds  and 
fading  leaves.  I  think  this  curiosity  is  gen- 
erally unobserved.  The  blossom  is  rather  a 
curious  or  exceptional  make-up,  but  it  is  pretty 
in  color  and  dainty  in  structure.  A  calyx  or 
cup  notched  on  the  rim  holds  a  tiny  boquet  of 
four  strap-shaped  petals,  and  eight  stamens,  and 
two  styles. 

This  late  display  of  blossoms  is  only  getting 
ready  for  an  early  start  in  the  spring.  Then  all 
the  seed  will  be  set,  and  may  proceed  to  grow 


BY  THE  EIVERSroB. 


107 


at  once.  All  our  trees  that  are  not  evergreens 
make  preparations  for  the  new  leaves,  in  buds 
stored  with  food,  and  often  varnished  over, 
as  if  each  one  was  an  object  of  special  provi- 
dence. Our  mayflowers,  or  trailing  arbutus, 
produce  the  flower  buds  in  the  autumn,  and 
sometimes  these  preparations  for  the  next  spring 
are  pushed  too  far  by  favoring  weather;  and 
then  one  finds  here  and  there  a  fall  blossom, 
born  out  of  due  season,  instead  of  being  tucked 
up  under  a  snow  blanket  in  a  sound  sleep  of 
months. 

This  witch-hazel  with  us  never  grows  to  more 
than  ten  feet  in  height,  but  in  the  Southern 
States  it  is  much  taller.  It  is  an  old  belief 
that  rods  of  hazel  had  magic  powers,  and  so  far 
is  this  from  being  outgrown  that  I  have  seen  a 
sane  practical  farmer  searching  for  gold  mines 
by  the  aid  of  a  hazel  crotch,  and  he  called  it  a 
"mineral  rod."  What  the  rod  did  not  do  in 
the  way  of  "  drawing  "  his  imagination  helped 
out.  He  never  found  a  mine  with  its  aid,  but 
he  did  not  lose  confidence  in  the  stick  —  to  do 
that  would  be  to  drop  a  superstition,  and  that 
kind  of  a  devil  does  not  quit  short  of  "fasting 
and  prayer."  So  far  as  we  know,  this  belief  is 
of  the  remotest  antiquity. 

The  earliest  written  history  of  Greeks,  Romans, 


ti 


'      :HI 


if  I 


108 


IK  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


Hebrews  and  Egyptians  relates  something  of 
magic  rods,  and  certain  kinds  of  woods  were 
believed  to  have  superior  virtues.  The  Greeks 
and  Romans  and  Germanic  peoples  used  them 
in  their  search  for  metals.  Our  Bible  makes 
frequent  references  to  them  and  their  magic 
properties ;  they  are  mentioned  as  tokens  of 
power,  as  the  "  rod  of  mine  anger  "  and  "  thy 
rod  and  thy  staff,  they  comfort  me.'* 

However,  I  must  not  dwell  on  this  tempting 
subject,  where  so  much  of  interest  might  be 
written.  Here  there  are  many  other  things 
most  worthy  of  special  notice.  Plants  and 
trees,  as  we  all  know,  have  their  proper  prefer- 
ences and  places  of  growth.  Some  grow  under 
water  altogether,  some  grow  partly  in  and 
partly  out,  and  others  hold  to  the  damp  margins, 
and  others,  again,  the  swamps  and  drier  uplands. 
Here  within  a  few  rods  are  great  varieties  of 
soil  where  trees  and  shrubs  and  grasses  may 
manage  to  grow.  But  always  there  is  crowding, 
and  hard  struggle  for  existence.  Nature  sows 
her  seeds  by  the  thousand  to  get  one  to  grow 
and  reproduce  its  kind.  Sometimes  they  are 
cast  on  the  ground  and  quickly  covered  with 
leaves,  and  thus  shut  out  from  proper  heat  they 
long  remain  waiting  for  a  day  of  germination. 
Many  seasons  may  pass  away,  and  yet  they  are 


BY  THE  RIVERSIDE. 


109 


in  some  sense  still  alive.  After  two  thousand 
years  buried  seeds  have  germinated  and  grown. 
On  our  own  forest  lands,  when  the  old  growth 
is  burnt  over,  a  new  one  of  a  different  character 
springs  up.  They  are  from  seeds  deep  buried 
in  the  mould,  where  the  fire  did  not  reach  them. 
Wild  cherries  are  common  in  such  second 
growths ;  tlie  seeds  have  been  dropped  by  birds 
that  had  eaten  the  fruit  —  and  just  here  let  us 
say  that  all  the  eatable  part  of  the  cherries  was 
Nature's  plan  to  get  the  seeds  cast  abroad.  By 
this  means  the  birds  are  made  to  do  her  work  ; 
she  offers  the  palatable  juicy  pulp  to  the  birds 
that  swallow  it  and  then  carry  the  seed  away. 
Thus  with  all  fruits  and  berries,  they  were  not 
produced  by  the  trees  and  shrubs  that  grew  on 
this  earth  before  birds  appeared.  There  were 
no  birds  when  the  great  forests  grew  through 
millions  of  years  that  furnished  the  material 
for  coal  mines.  Birds  and  berries  came  along 
together  in  the  order  of  creation,  as  we  read 
from  the  fossil  history  of  once  living  forms. 
The  first  true  seeds  were  naked  seeds.  Nature 
never  exactly  repeats  herself — the  thing  "  that 
hath  been  "  will  never  exactly  be  again ;  so  there 
must  be  immense  variety ;  and  some  seeds  will 
have  a  covering  worth  eating,  and  if  they  do 
hungry  birds  will  try  their  qualities;  it  will  be 


I      >' 


1    1^ 


no 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


then  that  the  seeds  with  the  most  toothsome 
peel  and  pulp  will  be  surest  to  get  swallowed. 
Now  the  naked  seeds  are  digestible  in  birds  and 
form  a  great  portion  of  their  food,  but  the  seeds 
of  berries  and  fruits  are  not  digestible.  They 
are  able  to  withstand  the  digestive  action.  At 
the  first  this  was  probably  true  of  only  a  few 
out  of  many,  but  the  tough  ones  got  them- 
selves planted,  and  brought  forth  after  their 
kind  according  to  law.  Sparrows  and  all 
seed-eating  birds  eat  the  seed  for  food,  while 
thrushes  and  all  other  berry-eating  birds  swal- 
low the  berries,  seed  and  all,  for  the  sake  of 
the  pulp. 

But  let  us  return  from  this  tempting  by-path 
to  the  riverside.  Here  on  the  plashy  brink, 
crowded  among  the  small  stones  is  the  common 
"blue  flag,"  to  call  it  by  a  common  name.  It 
is  the  Iris  yirginiea  of  science,  and  the  Flower- 
de-luce  or  Fleur-de-lis  of  heraldry  and  senti- 
ment. I  am  too  late  to  salute  the  beautiful 
flowers  where  they  bloomed  a  few  weeks  ago  on 
the  slender  stalks  that  upheld  them  like  staves 
of  royal  banners,  and  now  overloaded  with  the 
clumsy  seed  vessels,  that  will  keep  their  hold 
the  winter  long.  If  the  flower  were  not  so 
common  it  would  be  considered  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  and  curiously  constructed  of  all  our 


BY   THE  RIVERSroE. 


Ill 


flora.  Longfellow  taking  this  gem  for  a  theme 
gave  us  one  of  his  most  pleasing  poems.  I  can- 
not find  place  for  it  all,  but  here  are  given  a  few 
stanzas : 

"  Beautiful  lily,  dwelling  by  still  rivers 
Or  sheltering  mere, 
Or  where  the  sluggish  meadow-brook  delivers 
Its  waters  to  the  weir. 


"  Born  in  tlie  purple,  born  to  joy  and  pleasance. 
Thou  dost  not  toil  nor  spin, 
But  makest  glad  and  radiant  with  thy  presence 
The  meadow  and  the  lin. 

"  0  flower-de-luce,  bloom  on  and  let  the  river 
Linger  to  kiss  thy  feet ! 
0  flower  of  song,  bloom  on  and  make  forever 
The  world  more  fair  and  sweet !  " 

The  poet  calls  this  flower  a  lily,  which  it  is 
not;  but  there  has  been  a  good  deal  of  con- 
fusion about  it  in  song  and  story,  where  it  is 
often  termed  a  lily.  Fleur-de-lis  is  a  corruption 
from  Fleur-de-Louis^  for  Louis  VII  of  France 
chose  it  as  his  heraldic  emblem  when  he  went 
on  his  crusade  to  the  Holy  Land.  We  have 
also  a  white  variety  growing  here  and  there 
among  the  blue.  I  do  not  think  it  is  to  be 
reckoned  as  a  species,  although  it  is  surely  well 
on  the  way  to  that  distinction.  The  root  of  the 
blue  flag  is  used  in  medicine,  but  I  do  not  know 


I  i 


]■■ 


m 


u 


I 


112 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


if  that  is  any  reason  for  supposing  that  it  has 
any  curative  properties.  However,  the  world 
is  "  more  fair  and  sweet "  by  its  dainty  charms 
above  ground,  and  we  will  not  dig  for  its  hidden 
virtues. 

Within  a  few  feet  of  the  flags,  a  gravelly, 
dry  bank  comes  abruptly  to  the  stream,  grows 
a  shrub  worthy  a  longer  notice  than  can  be 
given  it  here.  I  refer  to  the  bayberry,  Myrica 
cerifera.  It  is  pleasant  to  the  eye,  with  its  cool 
gray  stems  and  branches  and  its  glossy  green 
leaves.  It  is  grateful  to  the  sense  of  smell ;  so 
clean  and  aromatic  that  pillows  filled  with  the 
leaves  are  delicious  soothers  of  tired  nerves  and 
weary  cares.  The  flowers  are  very  small,  and 
only  to  be  seen  by  looking  for  them,  but  the 
seeds,  which  are  hard  shelled,  are  covered  with  a 
vegetable  wax.  They  are  gathered  in  bunches 
close  to  the  branches  and  well  hidden  by  the 
clustering  leaves.  Our  older  settlers  here,  and 
in  New  England  often  gathered  these  "wax 
berries,"  or  bayberries,  and  boiled  them  till  the 
wax  floated,  when  it  was  cooled,  and  made  into 
candles.  Four  pounds  of  berries  would  yield 
about  one  pound  of  wax  of  a  greenish  tinge  and 
a  pleasant  odor.  This  was  also  made  into  soap. 
It  is  still  used,  and  may  be  purchased  at  well- 
furnished  drug  stores. 


BY  THE  EIVERSroE. 


113 


A  close  cousin  of  the  bayberry  is  keeping  it 
company  here,  the  "sweet  fern,"  Myrica  aspleni 
folium.  It,  too,  is  blessed  with  a  healthy  fra- 
grance through  all  its  leaves  that  outlasts  the  life 
of  them.  They  seem  to  have  been  all  their  days 
gathering  in,  by  some  cunning  chemistry,  the 
pungent  aroma  of  the  wayward  winds  and  the 
kindly  soil.  The  bark,  and  twigs,  and  leaves  are 
rich  in  the  material  serviceable  for  tanning  pur- 
poses. It  is  not  a  showy  shrub,  neither  is  it  of 
much  service  to  man,  but  it  is  a  pleasing  feature 
of  nature,  growing  in  waste  places,  covering  un- 
sightly surfaces  with  restful  green  and  gracious 
influences. 

Here  this  chapter  must  come  to  a  close  with- 
out more  than  a  glance  here  and  there,  where 
one  might  linger  long  with  profit  if  he  loves 
the  life,  and  varied  aspects  in  which  the  Maker 
of  all  has  made  his  presence  known. 


THE  RED   SQUIRREL. 


mi'' 


*'  I  MB  Abstraotod  and  hear  bonullful  tales  of 
tbingfl  and  the  roHsons  of  thingR  ; 
Tboy  are  so  buautiful,  I  nudge  myself  to 
listen."  — Walt  Whitman. 

THIS  morning,  in  the  month  of  P^ebruary, 
the  cold  is  below  zero.  The  sky  is  clear, 
the  air  is  still,  the  trees  crack,  the  snow  gives 
way  under  the  sleigh  with  a  distinct  crunch.  All 
sounds  are  esisily  heard.  The  chirp  of  a  kinglet 
the  call  of  the  chickadee,  the  tapping  of  the 
woodpecker,  break  the  stillness  as  if  all  the 
world  was  dead  beside.  Almost  within  reach 
of  my  arm,  perched  on  the  end  of  a  fir  limb,  is  a 
red  squirrel,  or  pine  squirrel,  or  chickaree,  or 
Seiurus  hudsonius.  By  all  these  names  he  is 
known.  His  winter  coat  shows  to  advantage, 
the  long  hair  on  the  ears  especially,  and  some- 
what longer  on  the  whole  body  than  in  summer, 
is  silver-tipped  with  frost.  He  is  making  his 
breakfiist  on  the  tender  frozen  ends  of  the  branch 
on  which  he  is  seated.  My  heart  is  touched  by 
his  misfortune.    Only  a  few  months  ago  he  was 


THE  RED   SQUIRREL. 


115 


revelling  in  berries,  and  nuts,  and  eggs,  his  coat 
was  glossy,  his  tail  aloft,  and  life  seemed  a  frolic 
and  all  the  world  made  for  him  and  his.  No 
glimpse  of  this  dreary  morning  clouded  his  day 
of  sunshine.  Now  he  has  got  down  to  the  hard 
realities  of  life.  Such  a  breakfast  is  a  notice  to 
all  beholders  tliat  winter  is  pressing  him  sore, 
and  it  is  at  the  same  time  an  exhibition  of  his 
intelligent  ability  to  meet  an  emergency.  There 
is  nothing  very  nourishing  in  fir  brush  however 
filling  it  may  be,  but  enough  of  it  will  sustain 
life,  and  that  is  the  pinch  where  our  little  "fel- 
low-mortal "  is  caught.  When  he  is  driven  out 
of  a  warm  bed  by  grim  hunger,  and  obliged  to 
face  a  temperature  below  zero,  and  look  out  on 
a  world  covered  with  snow,  and  no  pine  cones 
in  store,  then  he  must  find  something  that  will 
answer  for  food,  or  die.  There  is  plenty  of  fir, 
and  porcupines  and  rabbits  subsist,  during  the 
winter,  very  largely  on  the  bark  of  trees,  but 
they  have  inside  aiTangements  to  accommodate 
and  digest  great  quantities  after  the  fashion  of 
cattle ;  by  eating  a  deal  of  crude  material  they 
extract  enough  to  nourish  their  bodies.  Quite 
otherwise  with  our  little  squirrel,  liis  digestive 
organs  are  adapted  to  deal  with  food  in  concen- 
trated forms  of  seeds,  and  berries,  and  eggs,  and 
young  birds.    One  beech-nut  is  worth  more  for 


116 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


.n' 


^f'l^ 


food  than  twenty  times  its  weight  in  fir  twigs. 
This  ability  to  tide  over  a  famine  with  his  eyes 
open  is  one  proof  of  the  red  squirrel's  high  rank 
in  squirrel  intelligence.  He  stands  at  the  head 
of  a  large  family  to  be  found  all  over  the  world 
excepting  Australia,  Madagascar,  and  the  Polar 
regions.  With  some  minor  differences  of  shades 
of  color,  and  slight  variations  of  markings,  our 
squirrels  may  be  found  from  Nova  Scotia  to 
British  Columbia,  from  Hudson's  Bay  to  the 
mountains  of  the  Southern  States.  They  are 
near  relations  of  the  gophers  and  prairie  dogs, 
and  woodchucks  or  ground-hogs.  The  prairie 
dogs  and  woodchucks  are  grass-eating,  burrow- 
ing, winter-sleeping,  slow,  stupid  creatures  in 
comparison  with  these  pine  squirrels,  who  have 
descended  from  a  parent  stock  of  the  woodchuck 
type.  The  ability  to  climb  a  tree  quickly,  to  be 
agile  and  nimble,  to  use  the  front  feet  for 
hands,  and  secure  the  best  food  in  small  quanti- 
ties are  all  developments  in  the  line  of  intelli- 
gence. In  the  common  striped  squirrel  we  have 
a  creature  midway  in  the  upward  journey ;  he  is 
vastly  nearer  to  the  parent  stock,  he  lives  in 
dens  of  his  own  making  under  ground,  he  sleeps 
through  the  winter ;  he  can  climb  a  tree  but  not 
nimbly,  he  prefers  the  ground  and  only  climbs 
for  food  occasionally.    If  hard  pressed  by  dogs 


THE   BED  SQUIBBEL. 


117 


or  boys  he  will  take  refuge  in  a  tree,  but  he  is 
uneasy  and  soon  makes  a  dash  for  liberty  down 
the  trunk,  in  the  maddest  defiance  of  danger 
that  often  ends  in  death.  Only  in  his  den  or 
some  dark  hole  does  he  feel  safe.  On  the 
branches  he  is  clumsy  and  easily  shaken  down. 
Not  so  our  red  squirrel :  he  loves  the  trees.  Just 
watch  him  as  he  makes  his  way  from  limb  to 
limb  in  the  forests,  swiftly  and  surely,  till  one 
must  run  to  keep  up  with  his  movements.  On 
the  ground  he  is  quick  and  sprightly,  and  on  a 
fence  next  to  a  tree  he  can  show  to  advantage 
all  his  best  points.  He  fearlessly  and  swiftly 
swims  a  river,  and  makes  use  of  a  chip  or  any 
bit  of  floating  wood  for  a  raft  if  it  comes  in  his 
reach.  I  have  paddled  my  birch  canoe  across  the 
course  of  a  swimming  squirrel ;  quick  as  a  flash 
he  sprang  into  it  and  over  it  and  made  for  the 
shore  again.  Thus  we  see  that  he  is  an  all- 
round  fellow,  —  on  the  ground,  in  the  water, 
on  the  trees  he  is  at  home.  He  looks  the  bright, 
smart  chap  that  he  is.  He  challenges  me  in  the 
forest  from  a  lofty  perch  with  a  saucy  call,  and 
then  begins  to  jerk  himself  down  the  tree  to 
make  a  nearer  acquaintance,  till  of  a  sudden 
he  turns  with  a  cry  of  alarm  and  scurries 
back  to  his  perch,  only  to  repeat  that  perform- 
ance as  long  as  one  likes  to  watch  him.     His 


M 


ill 


118 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


intelligent  curiosity  prompts  him  to  a  close 
interview,  but  his  fears  defeat  his  well-meant 
intentions. 

I  have  mentioned  that  our  squirrel  was  driven 
to  eat  fir  browse  when  his  stock  of  stored-iip  cones 
was  exhausted  —  and  thereby  hangs  a  pretty  tale 
if  I  can  manage  to  tell  it  aright : 

In  the  early  autumn,  the  last  of  September, 
or  even  a  little  earlier,  whoever  will  go  into  the 
pine  forests  will  soon  find  that  the  red  squirrels 
are  cutting  off  the  cones  that  grow  on  the  upper 
branches  and  allowing  them  to  drop.  After 
working  at  that  for  a  while  they  como  down 
and  carry  them  away  and  hide  them  under  old 
logs  and  stumps  and  roots ;  and  once  I  saw 
one  stowing  them  by  the  half-bushel  in  a  water- 
hole  where  he  had  built  quite  a  little  wharf 
in  that  way,  taking  some  pains  to  put  them  in 
place.  " 

If  we  examine  the  cones  at  this  time  they 
will  be  found  to  have  a  seed  under  each  scale, 
excepting  near  the  small  end  of  the  cone.  It 
will  be  seen  that  the  cone  itself  is  but  a  protect- 
ing growth  to  cover  the  seed — each  one  for 
itself  ,*  and  the  pine  has  no  other  intention  than 
to  get  the  seeds  ripe  and  let  the  winds  sow  them. 
At  this  green  stage  the  seeds  are  filled  with  a 
milky  juice  containing  all  the  nourishing  ele- 


THE  BED   SQUIRREL. 


119 


ments  wherewith  to  feed  the  seedling  pine  at 
the  outset  of  life.  Had  the  squirrels  waited  till 
the  seed  ripened  the  opportunity  to  get  any 
would  have  been  lost,  for  then  the  protecting 
scales  dry  and  curl  up,  allowing  the  seeds  to 
escape ;  and  each  one  is  provided  with  a  wing, 
and  as  it  falls  the  winds  drift  it  away  from  the 
parent  tree,  where,  perchance,  some  better  con- 
dition of  light  or  soil  awaits  its  coming.  So  it 
turns  out  that  the  cone  has  been  cut  in  the  very 
nick  of  time,  if  it  is  to  be  had  at  all  when  the 
seeds  in  it  are  good.  Not  only  that,  but  to 
store  it  in  damp  places  is  the  right  thing  to  do, 
for  it  never  shrivels  up  there.  The  turpentine 
in  it  and  on  it  prevents  decay,  and  the  seed 
hardens  and  will  remain  sound  and  sweet  during 
more  than  one  season.  When  the  snow  covers 
all  the  land  these  squirrels  almost  entirely  live 
on  the  stores  of  cones.  They  will  burrow  down 
through  two  or  three  feet  of  snow  to  their  treas- 
ures and  come  up  with  their  breakfasts  in  their 
mouths.  The  cutting  of  these  unripe  cones  — 
and  they  do  the  same  by  spruce  and  fir  —  and 
storing  them  in  proper  damp  places  for  a  winter 
that  many  of  them  have  never  experienced  is  a 
very  interesting  example  of  what  is  called  "  in- 
stinct," and  by  that  word  we  generally  mean  an 
implanted  sense,  a  natural  mechanical  disposi- 


120 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


iS'  ' 


tion  or  inclination  to  do  the  best  thing  for  itself 
without  thinking  at  all.  In  that  case  we  may 
inquire  if  this  instinct  was  revealed  to  the  first 
pair  of  squirrels  of  this  species,  and  has  passed 
by  inheritance  ever  since  to  all  of  them,  or  is  it 
imparted  after  birth  to  each  individual  ?  If  we 
can  get  at  the  bottom  facts  this  instance  of  in- 
stinct may  be  explained  in  a  natural  way,  but 
many  other  instances  thus  far  have  had  no  solu- 
tion. It  will  be  found  that  our  squirrels  have 
inherited  a  habit  of  their  ancestors.  But  what 
about  their  ancestors  ?  How  did  they  acquire 
the  habit?  The  first  fact  of  prime  importance 
in  the  study  of  all  living  things  is  the  hard 
struggle  for  existence  that  all  forms  of  life  must 
surely  meet.  To  get  clear  of  being  eaten  and 
find  something  to  eat  have  always  been  the 
chief  aims  of  animal  life.  Hunger  is  a  sharp 
demand  that  cannot  be  long  delayed,  or  death 
will  claim  a  victim ;  but  there  are  always  more 
mouths  than  morsels;  by  far  the  larger  por- 
tion of  all  lower  animals  produced  are  either 
eaten  by  other  animals,  or  they  starve  to  death. 
Throw  to  a  flock  of  hens  a  handful  or  two  of 
bits  of  bread  and  notice,  if  they  are  hungry, 
how  eagerly  they  contend,  and  how  each  one 
tries  to  secure  the  largest  piece  in  her  bill  and 
run  away  to  a  place  where    she   can    eat  it 


THE  BED   SQUIRREL. 


121 


of 


securely  alone.  In  the  sharp  competition  for 
food  everywhere  prevailing  many  have  been 
the  plans  and  devices  to  secure  it,  to  keep  it,  to 
use  it  to  the  best  purpose.  Mankind  has  often 
stumbled  by  accident  upon  discoveries  and 
inventions  that  have  proved  of  great  service, 
and  doubtless  in  the  animal  world  below  him 
the  same  thing  has  occurred.  If  an  animal  were 
to  hide  a  portion  of  food  not  then  needed,  it 
would  be  an  act  that  might  save  his  life,  and,  if 
it  became  a  habit  in  his  descendants,  might  pre- 
serve the  species  to  which  he  belonged.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  many  meat-eating  animals  do 
hide  portions  of  their  food  not  needed  at  that 
time.  We  have  all  seen  or  known  of  dogs  bury- 
ing meat  bones  for  future  use,  and  weasels  and 
other  creatures  do  the  same.  I  have  seen  a  tame 
crow  hide  portions  of  food,  even  covering  them 
with  a  chip,  and  taking  much  pains  to  do  it 
well.  Very  often  he  did  not  return  for  it,  be- 
cause he  had  an  abundance  elsewhere.  His  act 
was  an  inherited  habit,  the  surplus  bit  of  food 
suggested  and  prompted  the  hiding  it.  This 
habit,  or  now  called  instinct,  of  hiding  or  stor- 
ing food  by  animals  may  have  originated  acci- 
dentally. Any  ravenous,  hungry  creature  seiz- 
ing his  portion,  or  a  good  deal  more,  and  run- 
ning, as  the  hens  do,  to  a  place  of  safety,  would 


■tji  • 


''. 


'fin  j 


122 


IN  THE   ACADIAN   LAND. 


try  to  get  out  of  sight  and  hearing  of  others. 
From  hiding  himself  and  his  booty  it  is  not  a 
long  step  to  more  or  less  cover  up  what  he 
could  not  then  eat.  To  hide  it  from  eyes  would 
not  be  so  important  to  him  as  to  hide  it  from 
noses.  Smelling  was  more  to  be  feared  than 
seeing ;  to  bury  it  would  seem  to  the  owner  the 
way  to  best  protect  it.  Such  a  habit  would  be 
of  immense  benefit  to  the  possesser  of  it.  Such 
habit  could  be  easily  formed,  it  seems  to  me.  It 
is  certain  that  different  families  of  animals 
practise  it  and  profit  by  it.  A  good  instance  of 
it  in  birds  may  be  seen  in  the  California  wood- 
peckers. In  the  autumn  they  make  small  shal- 
low holes  in  the  thick  bark  of  pine-trees ;  into 
each  one  they  crowd  an  acorn  till  it  is  about 
level  with  the  bark.  I  have  seen  hundreds  of 
them  on  a  single  tree.  These  woodpeckers  do 
not,  as  a  rule,  eat  acorns.  I  have  watched  in 
vain  to  see  them  do  it.  The  explanation  is 
probably  to  be  found  by  referring  the  habit  to 
distant  ancestors,  not  yet  fully  woodpeckers, 
who  did  store  acorns  for  food,  and  to  them  it 
was  of  great  value.  The  habit  has  outlasted  its 
use. 

The  squirrel  family  and  their  near  relatives 
the  gophers  are  noted  for  carrying  away  stores 
for  future  use,  and  our  striped  squirrels  do  the 


TE 


THE  RED   SQUIRREL. 


123 


same.  Our  red  squirrel  keeps  up  a  family  habit 
when  he  lays  aside  something  be  may  need 
further  on  in  the  season  ;  but  how  does  he  como 
to  cut  and  hide  the  cones  before  the  seeds  in 
them  are  ripe,  but  just  in  the  "  nick  of  time,"  if 
he  is  to  get  them  at  all  ?  Let  us  consider  the 
case.  The  cones  hang  tips  downward  from  the 
ends  of  the  branches.  When  the  seeds  are  ripe 
the  scales  over  them  become  dry  and  curl  up- 
ward, and  the  winds  toss  the  branches,  and  the 
winged  seeds  fall  out  during  the  highest  winds 
and  are  scattered  wide  away.  Now  it  is  clear 
that  the  squirrel  could  not  get  the  ripe  seeds ; 
before  that  could  be  done  he  must  cut  away  the 
cone.  But  there  he  is  met  with  a  difficulty :  the 
seeds  do  not  ripen  and  all  get  clear  on  the  same 
day  out  of  a  cone.  The  scales  near  the  small 
end  curl  up  first.  There  is  no  proper  time  to 
cut  a  ripe  one  and  secure  more  than  a  very  small 
portion  of  the  seeds.  Searching  for  food  very 
long  ago  in  squirrel  history  they  put  their  teeth 
into  the  green  cone,  and  discovered  the  juicy 
seeds  and  ate  them.  What  they  did  not  need 
they  hid  away,  as  they  would  do  with  some  other 
food,  and  the  habit  was  of  so  much  value  that 
the  squirrels  who  did  that  were  able  to  live  over 
winter  in  pine  forests.  Our  squirrels  now  do  by 
inherited  habit  what  was  acquired  by  other  gen- 


4i .) 


'   i 


il!i 


124 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


erations.  They  hide  in  damp  places  because  they 
are  the  most  numerous  and  convenient  localities 
for  storage  purposes. 

To  get  back  to  our  squirrel  making  his  break- 
fast on  browse.  I  had  never  noticed  before  how- 
useful  his  tail  was  on  a  cold  morning.  It  was 
drawn  tight  over  his  back  to  make  the  most  of 
it  for  a  blanket.  To  see  him  in  frolicsome  mood 
in  the  summer  one  would  think  he  considered 
his  tail  a  mere  plaything  to  be  flirted  and  whisked 
for  fun.  When  he  curls  up  in  his  nest  his  tail 
is  made  to  do  duty  for  bed-clothing.  A  very 
serious  charge  lies  at  our  red  squirrel's  door : 
he  is  a  bold  bad  robber  of  birds'  nests,  eating 
eggs  or  young  with  great  relish.  All  our  small 
birds  are  unable  to  drive  him  away,  and  their 
young  become  victims  to  his  appetite.  I  was 
witness  to  an  attempt  on  a  robin's  nest  that  was 
built  on  the  end  of  a  birch  limb  about  thirty  feet 
from  the  ground.  The  outcry  of  the  pair  of 
birds  attracted  my  attention.  The  squirrel  was 
within  six  feet  of  the  nest,  hitching  along  in 
short  jerks,  while  the  indignant  birds  almost 
alighted  on  his  back.  At  last  one  of  them  made 
a  desperate  drive  at  him  and  knocked  him  off 
the  limb.  He  made  himself  as  flat  as  a  pancake, 
and  although  he  struck  on  a  granite  boulder  he 
scurried  away  at  once.    This  ability  to  fall  from 


THE  RED    SQUIliREL. 


125 


a  long  distance  unhurt  is  a  peculiar  trick  of  the 
tree  squirrels. 

While  I  am  amused  and  interested  in  the  red 
squirrel,  and  would  not  like  to  see  them  exter- 
minated, still  it  must  be  admitted  that  through 
their  ravages  on  useful  birds  they  are  not  a  desir- 
able part  of  our  population  so  far  as  bread  and 
butter  are  concerned.  But  the  forests  and  road- 
sides would  lose  a  very  pretty  feature  if  this 
nimble  bright  animal  was  taken  away.  He 
doubtless  has  his  "  inalienable  '*  rights  to  live  and 
be  as  happy  as  he  can,  or  he  would  not  be  at  all. 
Everything  was  not  made  for  us,  and  for  our 
use.  We  are  at  the  head  of  the  class,  but  that 
gives  us  no  title  to  put  all  others  below  us  under 
our  feet.  Our  boasted  superiority  is,  after  all, 
only  in  mental  and  moral  directions.  The  foxes 
and  deer  have  keener  sense  of  smell  than  we 
have,  birds  have  better  eyes,  and  superior 
means  of  locomotion,  spidei-s  sling  their  wheel 
nets  like  trained  engineers,  fishes  return  from 
ocean  voyages  to  their  own  rivei*s,  birds  fly 
from  the  Arctic  to  the  Torrid  zones  with  no  other 
guide  than  their  own  natural  tibility,  bees  and 
ants  organize  into  governments ;  and  so  one  might 
go  on  to  show  that  all  the  mind  in  this  world 
is  not  in  mankind.  The  squirrel  knows  his  little 
world  of  trees  and  fences,  and  old  stumps  and 


126 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


'i  ■» 


hollow  logs,  and  where  nuta  are  to  be  found  and 
toadstools  grow,  he  knows  the  common  birds 
and  beasts  by  sight,  as  a  dumb  person  knows 
them  without  names,  he  plans  and  acts  in  such 
ways  as  each  day  has  needs,  he  does  not  know 
beyond  the  limits  of  his  wanderings.  We  too 
are  soon  lost.  Begin  where  we  will  to  study,  to 
investigate,  and  directly  we  arrive  at  the  boun- 
dary of  all  human  knowledge  in  that  direction, 
and  can  only  say,  with  the  apostle  of  old,  "  God 
knows,  I  cannot  tell.'* 


;  l:f 

]. 

■; 

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J-  : 

■     ' .') 

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I 


BIRDS. 


"  The  birds,  great  Nature's  happy  commonera. "  —  Rows. 
"The  poetry  of  earth  is  never  dead."— Keats. 

AMONG  the  many  attractions  to  a  natural- 
ist on  the  Molega  Road  are  the  birds.  To 
pass  over  them  without  notice  in  these  studies 
would  be  an  ungracious  act  on  my  part.  Often 
enough  my  drives  would  have  been  lacking  in 
some  special  feature  of  interest  had  it  not  been 
for  my  feathered  acquaintances.  I  ?m  painfully 
aware  that  the  general  run  of  people  do  not  give 
much  attention  to  birds.  Residents  of  the  coun- 
try districts,  although  in  the  midst  of  good  op- 
portunities, seldom  know  even  the  names  of 
common  birds.  They  recognize  swallows,  part- 
ridges, owls,  woodpeckers,  chickadees,  sparrows 
and  hawks ;  but  these  are  family  names,  and  it 
is  rather  a  loose-jointed  kind  of  knowledge 
that  does  not  go  any  farther  than  that.  I  am 
not  of  the  opinion  that  it  is  an  easy  matter  to 
learn  the  names  of  all  or  even  half  of  our  birds* 
It  requires  enthusiastic  interest,  books  and  speci- 


ill 


128 


IN  THE  ACADIAN   LAND. 


mens,  and  much  perseverance.  Still  it  is  quite 
desirable  that  knowledge  increase  in  this  direc- 
tion. It  is  not  realized  that  for  the  most  part 
birds  are  so  useful  that  we  could  not  hold  our 
own  against  insects  without  them.  We  would 
surely  be  driven  out  of  the  land  by  caterpillars, 
grubs  and  bugs,  and  beetles  and  flies,  if  our 
feathered  allies  did  not  destroy  them  by  millions 
every  day,  even  within  the  area  of  one  small 
county.  Long  ages  before  mankind  appeared 
on  this  earth  birds  were  here.  Their  fossil  re- 
mains imbedded  in  the  ancient  rocks  proves 
this  statement  beyond  question.  It  is  then 
very  evident  that  they  can  live  without  us, 
but  without  them  human  existence  could  only 
be  maintained  within  narrow  limits.  No 
grains  could  be  grown,  no  trees  could  live. 
The  insect-eating  birds  are  to  mankind  what 
the  embankments  that  keep  back  the  ocean 
are  to  Holland.  If  the  wall  was  removed 
or  broken  down  the  whole  country  would 
be  ovei-whelmed  with  water.  Insects  destruc- 
tive to  vegetable  and  animal  life  exist  in 
countless  species,  and  their  ability  to  mul- 
tiply their  numbers  even  in  one  year  is  some- 
thing incredible.  They  are  held  in  check  by 
birds.  There  are  other  agencies  that  help  in 
this  direction,  but  they  would  prove   unequal 


I 


BIBDS. 


129 


to  the  work,  and  to  the  birds  we  owe  a  great 
consideration. 

I  am  thinking  that  some  readers  with  nat- 
uralist's taste  may  turn  over  these  pages  for 
information  and  recreation,  and  it  is  my  aim 
that  something  of  both  may  be  found  here. 

To  begin  with  the  information,  I  set  down  a 
list  of  such  birds  as  one  with  good  eyes  and 
ears  for  them  would  identify  in  the  course  of 
two  or  three  years,  making  about  four  trips  a 
week  with  an  old  horse  and  plenty  of  time  and 
enthusiasm  over  the  Molega  Road : 

Thrushes. 

Hermit  Thrush,  or  Swamp  Robin,  Turdus  analaskee, 
Olive-backed  Thrush,  Turdus  ustulatus. 
Robin,  Merula  migratorius. 
Cat-bird,  Galeoscoptes  caroHnensis. 

Warblers. 

Summer  Yellow  Bird,  Dendroica  cestiva. 
Black-throated  Green  Warbler,  Dendroica  virens.  - 
Black-throated  Blue  Warbler,  Dendroica  ceridesens. 
Black-polled  Warbler,  Dendroica  coronata. 
Chestnut-sided  Warbler,  Dendroica  pennsylvanica. 
Bay-breasted  Warbler,  Dendroica  castanenea. 
Cape  May  Warbler,  Dendroica  tigrina. 
Black-and-Yellow  Warbler,  Dendroica  maculosa. 
Yellow  Red-Poll  Warbler,  Dendroica  palmarum. 


i'i 


*  i  i 

II 


i 


;i  i 


41 


-!' 


130 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


Blackburn's  Warbler,  Dendroica  hlackhumicB.  Com- 
mon. 

Pine  Creeping  Warbler,  Dendroica  vigorsii.  Com- 
mon. 

Maryland  Yellow-throated  Warbler,  Geothlypis  tri- 
chas.     Common. 

Mourning  Warbler,  Geothlypis  Philadelphia.     Rare. 

Connecticut  Warbler,  Geothlypis  agilis.     Very  rare. 

Nashville  Warbler,  Helminthophaga  ruficapilla.  Fairly 
common. 

Tennessee  Warbler,  Helminthophaga peregrina.  Rare. 

Canadian  Flycatching  Warbler,  Sylvania  canadensis. 
Not  rare. 

iijiorican  Redstart,  Setophaga  ruticella.  Very  com- 
mon. 

Ei^ck  ai-ii  White  Creeping  Warbler,  Mniotilta  varia. 
Abundant. 

Black-capped  Flycatching  Warbler,  Sylvania  pusilla. 
Rare. 

Northern  Parula  Warbler,  Comsothlypis  americana 
usnece.     Common. 

ViREOS. 

Red-eyed  Vireo,  Vireo  olivaceous.     Very  abundant. 
Solitary  Vireo,  Vireo  soUtarius.     Common. 
Yellow-throated  Vireo,  Vireo  fiavifrons.     Rare. 

Sparrows,  Finches,  Etc. 

Song  Sparrow,  Melospiza  fasciata.     Very  abundant. 
Swamp  Sparrow,  Melospiza  georgiana.     Common. 


BIRDS. 


131 


Snow  Sparrow  ("  Blue  Bird  "),  Junco  hiemalis.  Very 
common. 

English  Sparrow,  Passer  domesticus.     Too  common. 

Eastern  Fox  Sparrow,  Passer ella  illiaca.  Common 
sometimes. 

Tree  Sparrow,  Spizella  monticolo.   Common  in  winter. 

Chippiug  Sparrow,  Spizella  socialis.     Rare. 

White-throated  Sparrow,  Zonotrichia  albicollis.  Par- 
ticularly abundant  on  this  road. 

Bose-breasted  Grosbeak,  Habia  ludovicianus.  Com- 
mon. 

Pine  Grosbeak,  Pinicola  enucleator.     Common. 

Snow  Bunting,  Plectrophanes  nivalis.  Common  in 
winter. 

American  Crossbill,  Loxia  curvirostra.  Common  in 
winter  and  spring. 

White-winged  Crossbill,  Loxia  leucoptera.  Quite 
common. 

Pine  Finch,  or  Siskin,  Spinus  pinus.  Common,  not 
in  summer. 

Red-poll  Linnet,  Acanthis  linaria.  Common  in  win- 
ter. 

Lapland  Longspur,  Calcarius  lapponicus.   Occasional. 

Purple  Finch,  Carpodacus  purpursus.  Very  abun- 
dant. 

American  Goldfinch,  Spinus  tristis.     Quite  common. 


I 


ij«, 


Flycatchers. 

Water  Pewee,  Sayornis  phoehe.     Rare. 

Olive-sided  Flycatcher,  Gontopus  borealis.    Common. 


182 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


I'l  H 


1  i^ 


; 


S'SS 


Kingbird,  Tyrannus  tyrannus.     Very  abundant. 
Traill's   Flycatcher,  Empidonax  traillii.     Not  very 

common. 
Least  Flycatcher,  Mnpidonax  minimus.     Common. 
"Wood  Pewee,  Contopus  virens.     Common. 
Yellow-bellied    Flycatcher,   Empidonax  Jlaviventris. 

Rare. 

Woodpeckers. 

Hairy  "Woodpecker,  Dryohates  villosus.     Common. 
Downy  Woodpecker,  Dryohates  pubescens.     Common. 
Yellow-bellied  Woodpecker,  Sphyrapicus  varius.  Com- 
mon. 
Flicker  Golden-winged  "Woodpecker,  Colaptes  auratus. 

Common. 
Pileated    "Woodpecker     (""Woodcock"),     Ceophloeus 

pileatus.     Rare. 
Arctic    Three-toed    Woodpecker,   Picoides   arcticus. 

Rare. 
American   Three-toed  Woodpecker,  Picoides  ameri- 

canus.     Rare. 
Kingfisher,  Ceryle  alcyon.     Common. 
Black-billed  Cuckoo,  Coccyzus  eryihrophthalmus.  Fairly 

common. 
Crow,  Corvus frugivorus.     Abundant. 
Raven,  Corvus  corax.     Somewhat  rare. 
Blue  Jay,  Cyanocitta  cristata.     Very  abundant. 
Canada  Jay  ("Meat  Bird"),  Periosoreus  canadensis. 

Common. 
Rusty    Blackbird,   Scoleocophagus    carolinus.     "Very 

common. 


ft  -  --*.' 


1.'  ■  *•'  ; 


mt 


BIRDS. 


183 


Cow-pen  Bird,  Molothrus  ater.     Rare. 

Butcher  Bird,  Lanius  borealis.     Rare. 

Cedar  Bird,  Ampelis  cedrorum.     Common. 

Ruffed  Grouse,  Bonasa  umhellus.     Common. 

Spruce  Grouse,  Tetrao  canadensis.     Rare. 

ClifiE  Swallow  (Eaves  Swallow),  Petrochelidon  luni- 
frons.     Very  common. 

Barn  Swallow,  Chelidon  erythrogastra.     Common. 

"  Stump  Swallow,"  Tachycineata  hicolor.     Common. 

Ruby-throated  Hummer,  Trochilus  coluhris.  Common. 

Night-Hawk,  Chordeiles  virginianus.     Abundant. 

Chimney  Swift,  Chatura  pelagica.     Very  abundant. 

Blue  Bird,  Sialia  sialis.     Very  rare. 

Golden-crowned  Kinglet,  Regulus  calendulus.  Abun- 
dant. 

Ruby-crowned  Kinglet,  Regulus  satrapa.     Common. 

Black-capped  Chickadee,  Parus  atricapillus.  Very 
abundant. 

Hudsonian  Chickadee,  Parus  hudsonicus.     Rare. 

White-breasted  Nuthatch,  Sitta  caroUnensis.  Com- 
mon. 

Red-breasted  Nuthatch,  Sitta  canadensis.     Common. 

Brown  Creeper,  Certhia  familiaris.     Common. 

Hawks. 

Sharp-shinned    Hawk,    Accipiter  fuscus.      Not   very 

common. 
Cooper's  Hawk,  Accipiter  cooperii.     Rare. 
American  Goshawk,  Astur  atricapillus.     Rather  rare. 
Marsh  Hawk,  Circus  hudsonius.     Fairly  common. 


134 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


Sparrow  Hawk,  Falco  sparvertus.    Common. 
Pigeon  Hawk,  Falco  columbarius.     Rare. 
Red-tailed  Buzzard,  Buteo  horealis.     Common. 
Broad-winged  Buzzard,  Buteo  pennsylvanicus.     Rare. 
Fish  Hawk,  Pandion  halicetus.     Common. 

Owls. 

Great-horned  Owl,  Bubo  virginianus.     Common. 
Barred  Owl,  Symium  nehulosum.     Common. 
Saw-whet  Owl,  Nyctale  acadica.    Not  common. 

Herons. 

Great  Blue  Heron  ("  Crane  "),  Ardea  herodias.   Com- 
mon. 
American  Bittern  (S take-driver), ^^awrw*  lentigionstM. 

Common. 

Shore  Birds,  Etc. 

Spotted  Sandpiper,  Actitis  macularia.     Common. 

Least  Sandpiper,  Tringa  minutilla.     Common. 

American  Woodcock,  Philohela  minor.  Fairly  com- 
mon. \ 

Black  Duck,  Anas  obscura.     Common. 

Wild  Goose,  Branta  canadensis. 

Wood  Duck  (Summer  Duck),  Aix  sponsa.  Common 
in  the  fall. 

American  Whistler  Duck,  Glaucionetta  clangula. 
Common. 

Shelldrake,  Merganser  americana.     Common. 

Herring  Gull,  Laxus  argentatus.     Occasional. 

Loon,  Urinator  imber.     Common. 


BIRDS. 


185 


e. 


8. 


Here  then  are  one  hundred  and  fourteen  spe- 
cies. The  list  could  be  enlarged  by  taking  in 
the  lakes  and  some  other  features  of  the  dis- 
trict, which  is  twenty-seven  miles  from  the  sea- 
coast,  where,  of  course,  numerous  additions  could 
be  made  of  beach  and  ocean  birds.  Among  so 
many  as  I  have  named,  one  comes  as  a  matter  of 
course  to  have  his  favorites,  but  all  are  interest- 
ing. Some  of  them  are  delightful  songsters, 
others  are  almost  dumb,  and  others,  again,  are 
harsh  screamers.  The  swam;  oin,  or  hermit- 
thrush,  is  the  most  charming  of  the  musical  fra- 
ternity. The  jays  are  the  noisiest ;  the  cedar- 
birds  the  most  silent.  The  most  unsocial  are 
the  raven,  the  olive-sided  flycatcher  and  his 
cousin,  the  wood  pewee.  The  hardest  fighters 
are  kingbirds.  The  most  ferocious  is  the 
goshawk.  The  most  intelligent  is  the  crow,  and 
the  least  intelligent,  night-hawks  and  spruce 
partridges.  The  most  beautiful  nests  are  made 
by  humming-birds  and  wood  pewees,  and  the 
worst  b}'  the  cuckoos.  The  cow-pen  bird  makes 
no  nest,  but  lays  her  eggs  in  the  nest  of  other 
birds  for  them  to  hatch.  The  raven  is  most 
distinguished  as  a  bird  of  bad  omens.  The  only 
good  thing  I  ever  read  about  them  is  the  ac- 
count of  them  taking  food  to  the  prophet  Elijah. 
They  are  so  eager  and  greedy  to  eat  all  they  can 


i 


ir. 


186 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


It  ■; 


!^'  U 


I       ■ 


\^i 


find  that  nothing  short  of  a  providential  watch- 
ing would  prevent  them  from  devouring  the 
prophet's  morsel. 

An  old  fourteenth-century  manuscript  writ- 
ten in  the  English  of  that  time  relates  in  r< 
verse  the  raven's    outgoing    from  the   ark   ..^ 

follows: 

"  Then  opin  Noe  hie  windowe 
Let  ut  a  raueu  and  forth  he  flew 
Dune  and  up,  sought  here  and  thare 
A  stede  to  sett  upon  somewquar, 
Upon  the  water  sone  he  f  and  ,, 

A  drinklcd  beste  ther  flotand 
Of  that  fless  was  he  so  fain 
To  ship  come  he  neuer  againe." 

Spenser,  the  old  poet,  tells  us  of 

"  The  hoarse  night  rauen  trump  of  doleful  drere." 

Shakespeare  has  it  that  the  raven 

"  Tolls 
The  sick  man's  passport  in  her  hollow  bill. 
And  in  the  shadow  of  the  silent  niglit 
Doth  shake  contagion  from  her  sable  wings." 

It  was  believed  that  the  nestlings  could  be 
made  into  medicine,  and  here  is  the  way  to  do 
it  as  given  by  Guillim,  who  wrote  so  long  ago 
that  his  English  may  not  be  understood  at  a 
glance : 


BIBDS. 


187 


"Take  rauens  bryddes  all  quyke  oute  of  here  neste  and 
loke  yot  ye  louche  not  the  erth  nor  yot  yei  commen  in  none 
hou8  and  brenne  him  in  a  neu  potte  all  to  powdir  and  gif  it 
ye  seke  man  to  drynnke." 


Or  in  modern  fashion  : 

"  Take  raven's  birds  (young)  alive  out  of  her  nest,  and  look 
that  you  touch  not  the  earth  nor  yet  come  into  any  house, 
and  burn  him  in  a  new  pot,  and  give  it  to  the  sick  man  to 
drink." 

"  Any  old  thing  "  did  for  sick  people  in  those 
days,  and  the  custom  dies  hard. 

Among  the  birds  on  my  list  the  kingfisher  is 
most  pleasantly  interwoven  in  myth  and  song 
and  story.  The  old  Gre<  ks  had  it  that  Halcyone 
was  a  daughter  of  iEolus.  Her  husband  was 
drowned  in  the  jF^gean  Sea  and  as  she  wandered 
on  the  shore  she  saw  afar  the  dead  body  of  her 
husband.  The  goc.  >  in  pity  changed  her  into  a 
kingfisher,  and  her  husband  shared  the  same 
happy  fate.  Halcyon  means  brooding  on  the 
sea,  and  it  was  pretended  that  kingfishers  made 
floating  nests  on  the  sea,  and  during  fourteen 
days  while  the  eggs  were  hatching  the  winds 
went  down ;  and  these  were  "  Halcyon  days. " 
The  older  English  poets  often  allude  to  this 
myth.    Drayton  has  it  thus  : 

"  The  halcyon  whom  the  sea  obeys 
When  she  her  nest  upon  the  water  lays." 


138 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


Dryden  writes: 

"  Amidst  our  arms  as  quiet  jou  shall  be 
As  halcyun  brooding  on  a  winter  sea." 

Milton  says : 
"  While  birds  of  calm  sit  brooding  on  the  charmed  wave. " 

The  kingfisher  of  the  myths  is  a  very  differ- 
ent fellow  from  the  rough-and-ready,  practical, 
every-day  bird  of  that  name.  So  far  is  she  from 
nesting  on  the  "charmed"  sea  that  she  digs  a 
long  tunnel  in  a  bank  and  there  the  eggs  are 
laid.  As  a  family  they  are  birds  of  fine  feather, 
bn.t  their  grating,  loud  voice  is  against  them, 
with  many,  and  there  is  no  elegance  of  form. 
Their  feet  are  deformed  into  palms  for  grasping 
a  fish  while  eating  it.  Their  bills  are  large  and 
powerful,  adapted  to  seizing  the  nimble  and  strug- 
gling fish,  on  which  they  depend  altogether  for 
food.  When  a  kingfisher  quits  his  perch  by  a 
river  or  brook  side  he  always  starts,  and  keeps 
up  a  clattering,  horse-fiddle  outcry,  as  if  he  de- 
sired to  let  everybody  know  of  his  coming.  I 
do  not  object  to  his  announcement ;  it  fits  him 
exactly,  for  he  comes,  low  down  and  direct  on- 
ward, like  a  feathered  express.  In  fact,  I  am  so 
far  away  from  good  taste  in  musical  sounds  that 
I  am  more  moved  by  the  loon's  long  midnight 


BIRDS. 


139 


"  holoo  "  across  a  lake  than  I  am  by  the  liquid 
notes  of  the  hermit-thrush.  Something  that 
goes  deeper  with  me  is  the  whistling  scream  of 
the  circling  hen-hawk,  as  he  moimts  the  dizzy 
spirals  of  the  sky,  than  there  is  in  the  cat-bird's 
jocund  song.  I  prefer  the  "  Too,  hoo,  hoo  "  of 
the  "boding  owl"  from  his  perch  in  the  dark 
hemlocks,  to  the  robin's  evening  lay.  The  owl 
starts  the  "  goose-flesh  "  on  me  ;  it  is  as  if  some 
phase  of  the  night  side  of  nature  had  found  a 
voice  for  itself.  Even  the  muffled  "  honk  "  of 
wild  geese  at  nightfall  moved  Bryant  to  write 
the  finest  poem  in  all  bird  literature.  There 
is  in  it  a  loftiness  of  feeling  and  beauty  of  ex- 
pression that  place  it  in  the  first  ranks  of  short 
poems.  No  melody  of  singing  bird  could  have 
moved  him  like  this  wild  cry,  shouted  down 
from  the  depths  of  the  twilight  sky  by  this  flock 
of  chartless  and  compassless  voyagers. 

To  learn  to  like  these  voices  and  aspects  of 
nature  is  to  get  more  out  of  life  that  is  worth 
having ;  to  neglect  them  is  to  pass  by  the  sources 
of  true  and  healthy  enjoyment.  While  such 
negligence  may  not  be  a  sin,  it  is  an  ill-man- 
nered reception  of  a  princely  birthright.  "  To 
consider  the  lilies  how  they  grow,  and  notice 
that  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  was  not  arrayed 
like  one  of  them,"  is  not  an  idle  sauntering  by 


r 


140 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


illl 


the  way,  but  a  becoming  attention  to  the  splen- 
dor of  God.  It  is  either  a  narrow  mind,  or  a 
sadly  neglected  one,  that  never  rejoicingly  says 
to  himself  or  another,  "  Lo  the  winter  is  past, 
the  flowers  appear  on  the  earth,  the  time  of  the 
singing  of  birds  is  come,  and  the  voice  of  the 
dove  is  heard  in  our  land.'* 


■  l.-di  ■■■?;■ 


•  t 


MICMAC  INDIANS. 


"  BvooED  type  of  primal  man, 
Oriro  Qtllitarian  ; 
Loving  woods  for  hunt  and  prowl, 
Lake  and  kill  for  fleh  and  fowl."  —  Wuittier. 

I  HAD  almost  forgotten  to  say  that  our  road 
to  the  mines  ran  across  an  Indian  reserva- 
tion. After  the  white  men  liad  disposessed  the 
red  men  of  the  Lands  they  had  owned  for  many 
centuries,  then  the  generous  Christian  granted 
back  again  a  small  portion  of  his  plunder.  A 
few  Indians  have  lingered  on  these  acres  well 
watered  by  streams  and  lakes,  but  his  pale-face 
brothers  come  there  by  dozens  to  whip  the 
waters  for  trout.  Long  ago  the  Indians  bowed 
to  the  inevitable  ;  resistance  to  the  invaders 
became  hopeless. 

About  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  the 
French  made  the  acquaintance  of  these  people 
of  the  forest.  That  v/as  their  first  introduction 
to  Europeans.  They  were  hunters  and  trappers 
and  fishers.  Not  a  single  tool  or  weapon  of 
metal    could  be    found  among  tliem.      They 


1 


f 

h 


m 


142 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


were  not  destitute  of  fine  qualities,  and  re- 
ceived the  white  strangers  with  dignified  hospi- 
tality. They  were  quick  to  see  the  advantages 
of  muskets  and  iron  axes  over  bows  and  arrows 
and  stone  tools.  In  all  the  province  there 
were  about  four  thousand  Indians.  They  were 
well  acquainted  with  the  shores  and  the  in- 
terior. They  had  named  the  harbora,  and  head- 
lands and  bays,  and  mountains  and  lakes,  and 
could  make  maps  of  the  country  and  far  out- 
side to  Quebec  and  New  England.  While 
they  did  not  live  in  grand  houses  and  make  a 
great  show  in  the  world,  still  they  were  far 
from  being  a  very  low  type  of  men  and  women. 
They  had  no  law  books,  but  there  was  an  un- 
written code  demanding  the  observance  of  the 
common  virtues  of  life.  In  the  nature  of 
things  they  could  not  live  in  large  communities, 
for  they  did  not  till  the  soil  to  secure  food. 
Certain  families  had  their  homes  from  genera- 
tion to  generation  in  the  same  district.  Among 
themselves  they  led  a  quiet  life,  in  some  meas- 
ure subject  to  a  head  man  or  chief  of  the  tribe, 
who  was  chosen  for  some  fitting  qualities.  The 
Mohawk  Indians  from  the  State  of  New  York 
were  an  adventurous,  fearless  tribe,  looking  for 
scalps,  and  became  a  menace  and  terror  to  the 
Indians  of  Nova  Scotia  and  what  are  now  the 


BS,  and  re- 
lified  hospi- 
ad  vantages 
and  arrows 
prince  there 
They  were 
tnd  the  in- 
3,  and  head- 
lakes,  and 
ad  far  out- 
id.      While 
md  make  a 
y  were  far 
and  women, 
was  an  un- 
'^ance  of  the 
)  nature  of 
ommunities, 
secure  food, 
mm  genera- 
ct.    Among 
some  meas- 
of  the  tribe, 
.lities.     The 
'  New  York 
looking  for 
;error  to  the 
are  now  the 


**. 


■\  I 


14 


i 


MICMAC   IMDLANS. 


14S 


neighbonng  provinc«».  The  Fi'encii  soon  man- 
aged to  h«  oii  g«>^d.  t«rm«i  wiili  the  nativen ;  they 
settled  amorig  them  and  tnuW  with  thum, 
lived  ufttm  in  their  wigwam:*  jjukI  inamed  thnir 
danghtrm.  More  thau  tliis,  Fi;«.nch  j>i-ieHt«5  ranie 
out  aud  ii-^td  witli  them  aud  Ij^^nMjjd  their 
la.iigu,is^„  ftjiH?  c'0/ivttrte<l  thrm  vc  Umr  v-reed. 
Thih  wj«?*  fl>>>*  ts  .iif!if;idt.  task,  f<»r  thv;  ipd<vv»«  W- 
lieved  ill  «*  s;^.*"v4  «pirit  who  ntu-iU;^  aii  g^f^-l 
things  ;  ill  an  *^viJ  »pijjt  who  W't?-  tKw  «* mlH  "  of 
all  evil.  Tbev  VM-lieved  in  a  lienven  and  a  ii<?lL 
and  also  a  middle  state,  or  [-urgjitory,  ^ays 
Father  Vetronule.  This  was  a  long  start  in  the 
right  dirt'ctii»n,  and  iho  devoted  nii.sisionaries 
gal)ie»-ed  th«jin  all  int«.>  the  lloman  Ohurch, 
whei>it  m  a  rni+',  their  des<*endanl«*  r«?niain. 
Before  \ter  converaion  they  were  vMf  iit^ 
in  war,  '-SaxA  %f'i*hrvvard  they  perpetrated  drt^ifal 
deeds,  t'^i  *kv<Uf  (  hristiitns  were  aeitijig  lii^^ssr 
im  bettsu  eiri!iJrvi|>«^,  ffi  New  England  Khot^ 
Tupper  and  Mfc^vlvt^w  were  preacdiing  U>  tie 
Indians  with  a  desu-e  to  yave  their  souls,  but  all 
their  work  bore  no  great  fruit.  Eliot  tran^•Iatcd 
the  l^ible  luto  their  language,  and  I  believe 
tliere  ;>•  i;<*t  a  man  who  can  read  it.  :';ib?ss 
>ather  Vetromii^  li*»  still  alive.  One  aiav  xveil 
douh?  that  it  ever  sierved  the  purpose  intvuided. 
T)je  New  Kngland  'vhit*    uien  wlio  brought 


lit 


ll^. 


m'> 


ii 


m 


m 


I  SI 


IK.' 


t. 


,     ,  "    .'.'  .■'  -     ■     'lis  ■       ,    '-l/^' 


i 


'.'■■( 


:  •i.'iS* 


■    ■■-.   '.V       ■''„!,' yi       V.''    i.'Vc  ■■-■' 


■«;■■■■■  i-'  ?<*■■■■■■;,;     ?•   '■.:'  i'     • 
-■■■■■'      '  '];<••■■  '/■    ■••■f/-'i'y'   ^, 


'f',./,' 


!*.. 


.«t 


;.v'-' 


>:-;"!.'y..  ii. 


;.;>W;,,,... 


J-.J. 

iil 


ff 


f ■.•:■;•! 


v^::,^.^! 


MICMAC  INDIANS. 


143 


neighboring  provinces.  The  French  soon  man- 
aged to  be  on  good  terms  with  the  natives ;  they 
settled  among  them  and  traded  with  them, 
lived  often  in  their  wigwams  and  married  their 
daughters.  More  than  this,  French  priests  came 
out  and  lived  with  them  and  learned  their 
language,  and  converted  them  to  their  creed. 
This  was  not  a  difficult  task,  for  the  Indians  be- 
lieved in  a  good  spirit  who  made  all  good 
things  ;  in  an  evil  spirit  who  was  the  author  of 
all  evil.  They  believed  in  a  heaven  and  a  hell, 
and  also  a  middle  state,  or  purgatory,  says 
Father  Vetro^nile.  This  was  a  long  start  in  the 
right  direction,  and  the  devoted  missionaries 
gathered  them  all  into  the  Roman  Church, 
where,  as  a  rule,  their  descendants  remain. 
Before  their  conversion  they  were  veiy  cruel 
in  war,  and  afterward  they  perpetrated  dreadful 
deeds,  but  white  Christians  were  setting  them 
no  better  example.  In  New  England  Eliot, 
Tupper  and  Mayhew  were  preaching  to  the 
Indians  with  a  desire  to  save  their  souls,  but  all 
their  work  bore  no  great  fruit.  Eliot  translated 
the  Bible  into  their  language,  and  I  believe 
there  is  not  a  man  who  can  read  it,  unless 
Father  Vetromile  be  still  alive.  One  may  well 
doubt  that  it  ever  served  the  purpose  intended. 
The  New  England  white  men  who  brought 


I 


1 


J, 


M 


¥ 
m 


144 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


the  Bible  stole  the  Indians'  belongings,  sold 
them  into  West  Indian  slavery,  and  when  they 
conquered  and  killed,  in  1675,  their  leader, 
Chief  Philip,  they  cut  off  his  head,  brought  it 
to  Plymouth  and  stuck  it  high  on  a  pole  where 
the  skull  rattled  for  generations  over  the  heads 
of  these  pious  savages.  The  wrens  at  last  came 
to  nest  in  this  brain-box,  wherein  had  been 
hatched  many  daring  schemes  before  ever  a 
wrenlet  saw  light  there. 

Rev.  Dr.  Rand,  with  great  zeal  and  ability, 
mastered  the  Micmac  language  and  translated 
and  printed  the  New  Testament,  Genesis  and 
Exodus,  together  with  reading-books  ;  and  some 
Indians  learned  to  read  it,  but  they  had  no 
great  inclination  in  that  direction,  not  more 
than  white  people,  and  that  is  not  much.  Dr. 
Rand  says  that  many  of  the  Indians  had  not 
"  so  much  as  heard  of  the  Bible,"  although  they 
were  all  Christians  by  baptism.  That  Dr.  Rand 
filled  a  long-felt  need  by  furnishing  them  with 
the  scriptures  is  not  credible.  They  were  evi- 
dently not  greatly  neglected  by  their  own 
church,  for  even  Dr.  Rand  said  after  he  spent 
forty  yeara  in  this  work : 

"  I  have  never  made  it  a  special  object  to 
change  their  religion ;  I  could  not  see  the 
slightest  advantage  it  would  be  to  them." 


MICMAO  INDIANS. 


145 


to 
Ithe 


If  he  had  taken  that  view  of  the  matter 
at  the  outset  he  would  never  have  entered  on 
a  mission  to  the  Micmacs,  and  gone  into  an 
ecstasy  of  rejoicing  when  he  had  translated 
the  first  verse  of  scripture,  as  if  the  letter 
was  much  more  than  the  spirit.  The  Micmacs 
were  the  first  Indians  north  of  Mexico  to  em- 
brace Christianity,  and  their  teachers  were 
missionaries  of  rare  zeal  and  piety,  deserving 
of  great  praise  for  their  self-denial  and  devotion 
to  humanity. 

In  his  later  years,  when  his  knowledge  of 
Micmac  language  was  thorough,  Dr.  Rand  must 
have  been  both  pained  and  amused  over  his 
crude  translations  made  when  his  zeal  outran 
his  knowledge.  Eliot,  the  famous  New  England 
missionary  to  the  Indians,  relates  that  when  he 
was  making  his  translation  of  the  Bible,  and 
came  to  Judges  v :  28,  "  The  mother  of  Sisera 
looked  out  at  a  window  and  cried  through  the 
lattice,"  etc.,  he  was  unable  to  find  a  word 
for  lattice.  He  explained  to  his  Indians  that  a 
lattice  was  a  bit  of  wood-work  made  of  narrow 
strips  placed  side  by  side,  but  not  very  close  to- 
gether. So  they  gave  him  a  word,  and  he  used 
it  in  the  translation.  Long  afterwards  he  saw 
that  the  passage  read  thus,  "  The  mother  of 
Sisera   looked    out  at    a  window    and    cried 


I  • 


I 


vm 


1! 


m 


146 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


through  the  eel-pot."  The  fact  is  that  an 
eel-pot  as  still  made  by  the  Micmacs  is  really  a 
lattice-work  in  hoops,  to  allow  the  escape  of  the 
water,  but  not  the  eels,  when  it  is  set  in  a 
stream. 

The  Micmacs  were  a  comparatively  docile 
and  gentle  people,  and  the  missionaries  found 
the  task  of  conversion  much  easier  on  that 
account.  In  New  York  State,  where  the  Five 
Nations  dwelt,  an  Indian  confederacy,  thele  was 
a  stern  opposition  to  the  introduction  of  Chris- 
tianity. Their  great  Seneca  chief.  Red  Jacket, 
who  died  in  1830,  was  an  eloquent  pagan  to  the 
last.  A  missionary  visited  them,  and  they  came 
together  to  hear  him.  Among  other  things,  he 
told  them  "there  was  but  one  religion,  and 
without  that  they  could  not  prosper.  They  had 
lived  all  their  lives  in  gross  darkness,  and, 
finally,  if  any  objections  could  be  made  he 
would  like  to  hear  them." 

To  show  how  the  matter  looked  to  Red 
Jacket  I  introduce  his  famous  speech,  as  it  will 
at  the  same  time  give  the  reader  a  good  idea  of 
Indian  argument  and  eloquence : 

"Brother,  you   say  you   want  an  answer  to 
your  talk  before  you  leave  this  place.    Listen 
to  what  we  say:  There  was  a  time  v'        . 
forefathers  owned  this  great  lar^^      ^ 


4Ct» 


h- 


i 


MICMAO  INDIANS. 


147 


he 


extended  from  the  rising  to  the  setting  sun. 
The  Great  Spirit  had  made  it  for  the  use  of 
Indians.  He  had  created  the  buffalo,  the  deer, 
and  other  animals  for  food.  He  made  the  bear 
and  the  beaver ;  their  skins  served  us  for  cloth- 
ing. He  had  caused  the  earth  to  produce  corn 
for  bread.  All  this  he  had  done  for  his  red 
children  because  he  loved  them.  But  an  evil 
day  came  upon  us.  Your  forefathei-s  crossed 
the  great  waters  and  landed  here.  Their  num- 
bers were  small.  They  told  us  they  had  fled 
from  their  country  for  fear  of  wicked  men. 
They  asked  for  a  small  portion  of  land.  We 
took  pity  on  them,  granted  their  request ;  they 
sat  down  among  us.  We  gave  them  corn  and 
meat.  They  gave  us  poison  fire-water  in  return. 
You  have  now  become  a  great  people  and  we 
have  scarcely  a  place  left  to  spread  our  blankets. 
You  have  got  our  country,  but  are  not  satisfied. 
You  want  to  force  your  religion  upon  us.  You 
say  that  you  are  sent  to  instruct  us  how  to  wor- 
ship the  Great  Spirit  agreeable  to  his  mind; 
and  if  we  do  not  take  hold  of  ihe  religion  you 
white  people  teach  we  shall  be  unhappy  here- 
after. You  say  that  you  are  right  and  we  are 
lost.  How  do  we  know  this  to  be  true  ?  We 
understand  that  your  religion  is  written  in  a 
book.    If  it  was  intended  for  us  as  well  as  for 


148 


m  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


I    ! 


you,  why  has  not  the  Great  Spirit  given  it  to 
us  ?  and  not  only  to  us,  but  why  did  he  not  give 
our  forefathers  the  knowledge  of  that  book  with 
the  means  of  understanding  it  rightly?  We  only 
know  what  you  tell  us  about  it.  How  shall  we 
know  when  to  believe,  being  so  often  deceived 
by  the  white  people  ? 

"Brother,  you  say  there  is  but  one  way  to 
worship  and  serve  the  Great  Spirit.  If  there  is 
but  one  religion,  why  do  you  white  people  differ 
so  much  about  it  ?  Why  not  all  agree,  as  you 
can  all  read  the  book  ? 

"  Brother,  we  do  not  undei'stand  these  things. 
We  are  told  that  your  religion  was  given  to 
your  forefathers,  and  has  been  handed  down 
from  father  to  son.  We  also  have  a  religion 
which  was  given  to  our  forefathers  and  has 
been  handed  down  to  us  their  children.  We 
worahip  that  way.  It  teaches  us  to  he  thankful 
for  all  favora  we  receive,  to  love  each  other, 
and  to  be  united.  We  never  quarrel  about 
religion. 

"  Brother,  the  Great  Spirit  has  made  us  all. 
He  has  given  us  a  different  complexion  and 
different  customs.  Since  he  has  made  so  great 
a  difference  between  us  in  other  things,  why 
may  we  not  conclude  that  he  has  given  us  a 
different  religion  according  to  our  understand- 


MICMAC   INDIANS. 


149 


ll 
It 


11. 

Ld 

lat 

a 
ld< 


* 


ing?  The  Great  Spirit  does  right.  He  knows 
what  is  best  for  his  children.  We  are  satis- 
fied. We  do  not  want  to  destroy  your  religion 
or  take  it  from  you,  we  only  want  to  enjoy 
our  own. 

"  Brother,  you  have  now  heard  our  answer  to 
your  talk,  and  this  is  all  we  have  to  say  at 
present.  As  we  are  going  to  part,  we  will  come 
and  take  you  by  the  hand  and  hope  the  Great 
Spirit  will  protect  you  and  return  you  safe  to 
your  friends." 

Red  Jacket  had  a  mind  of  his  own,  and  clung 
to  the  old  way  of  the  fathers.  It  was  his  mis- 
fortune to  come  much  in  contact  with  tlie  greed 
and  intolerance  of  white  men,  and  he  could  not 
believe  in  their  religion. 

The  Indians  of  New  England  and  the  British 
maritime  provinces  were  divided  into  many 
clans  or  tribes.  In  general  appearance,  customs 
and  language  they  were  nnich  alike.  The  lan- 
guage did  not  differ  more  than  English  differed 
a  century  ago  in  England  from  shire  to  shire. 
The  Indians  of  Nova  Scotia  did  not  call  them- 
selves Micmacs,  it  was  a  nickname  given  them 
by  the  French.  They  were  known  as  Souri- 
quois.  They  were  great  believers  in  magic  auvl 
witches,  and  Malike  was  an  old  name  for  witch- 
craft, and  out  of  this  word  was  derived  Micmac. 


160 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


IS-      I 


If  the  Indian  had  discovered  iron,  and  learned 
how  to  change  it  into  steel,  a  thousand  years 
before  America  was  discovered,  he  might  well 
have  made  a  name  for  himself  among  civilized 
nations.  Their  language  was  admirably  calcu- 
lated for  all  manner  of  literary  purposes.  It  is 
not  a  rude,  harsh,  barbarous  tongue,  but  smooth 
and  soft,  and  immensely  rich  in  words. 
On  this  point  Dr.  Silas  T.  Rand  says : 
"  The  Micmac,  like  many,  if  not  all,  of  the  na- 
tive American  languages,  is  remarkable  for  its 
copiousness,  its  regularity  of  declension  and  con- 
jugation, its  expressiveness,  its  simplicity  of 
vocables,  and  its  mellifluousness ;  in  all  of  these 
particulars  and  othei-s  it  will  not  suffer  in  com- 
parison with  any  of  the  most  learned  and  pol- 
ished lanffuagfes  of  the  world." 

Dr.  Rand  was  not  only  learned  in  Micmac 
but  he  was  wonderfully  acquainted  with  many 
other  languages,  including  Greek  and  Latin. 
Our  Indian,  who  thinks  in  his  own  speech  and 
talks  in  English,  makes  a  rather  awkward  at- 
tempt. The  difficulty  is  this :  he  tries  to  trans- 
late the  arrangement  of  his  words  into  something 
equivalent  in  ours,  but  the  whole  structure  and 
grammar  of  his  language  bear  no  resemblance 
to  English;  hence  he  makes  such  blunders  as 
the  following : 


MICMAC  INDIANS. 


151 


1(1 

Ice 
as 


"  Long  time  ago,  when  first  Indian  makeum 
God." 

Or  this : 

"Joe  Williams  his  hogs  my  heelus  (eels) 
eatem  all  up." 

This  is  a  language  where  the  roots  of  words 
are  all  smoothly  dovetailed  into  one  another  to 
form  one  long  word,  which  is  really  a  sentence. 
Here  is  such  a  word  :  Ydle-oole-maktdwe-pokoae. 
This  signifies,  "  I  am  walking  about  carrying  a 
beautiful  black  umbrella  over  mv  head."  The 
word  is  made  up  from  other  words,  as  follows: 
Ydlea^  I  walk  about;  maktdudre^  I  am  black; 
welae,  I  am  beautiful ;  pokuoson^  a  shelter  over 
the  head.  The  roots  of  all  these  words  are 
easily  discovered  in  the  long  word  that  is  a  reg- 
ular verb  in  the  indicative  mood,  present  tense, 
first  person,  singular.  As  a  sample  of  such 
long  words,  here  we  have  one  meaning  "  They 
are  going  to  eat  supper  together  " :  Najdejemovtr 
weoolowouadullaolteedusBuneega,  This  word- 
building  is  a  very  different  thing  from  simply 
throwing  whole  words  together,  as  if  we  were  to 
write  it  in  English  thus :  Theyaregoingtoeat- 
suppertogether. 

A  very  much  nicer  arrangement  is  in  the  In- 
dian speech.  The  speaker  makes  the  long  word 
when  he  needs  it,  and  he  does  that  by  certain 


162 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


rules  of  construction,  and  he  can  express  the 
nicest  shades  of  meaning  by  the  introduction  of 
a  single  sound. 

The  older  Indians  had  a  good  deal  of  pride  in 
their  language  and  aimed  to  speak  it  with  pro- 
priety. When  the  French  came  amongst  them, 
bringing  many  things  they  had  never  before 
heard  of,  then  they  either  attempted  to  use  the 
French  name  or  they  coined  a  new  word ;  for 
example,  they  called  the  French  Wenjoo^  and 
they  named  cow  Wenjooteam^  meaning  French 
moose,  as  Tedm  is  their  name  for  moose.  An 
apple  they  named  Wenjoo8oon^  or  French  cran- 
berry. The  Indian  name  f or  hoi-se  is  Tasehoo; 
this  is  a  mere  attempt  to  use  the  French  des 
cJievaux.  They  had  no  oara,  but  used  a  paddle 
instead,  which  they  called  '  Thargan ;  so  they 
named  an  oar  French  paddle :    Wenjootaagmi. 

A  slight  change  in  the  termination  of  a  word 
enables  the  Indian  to  express  a  great  variety  of 
meaning.  To  illustrate,  we  will  take  the  word 
for  bear,  Mooin;  for  bear's  grease,  Mooinone; 
for  bear  meat,  Mooindwd  ;  for  bear  skin,  Mooinw, 
I  am  a  bear,  Mooindwe. 

However  barren  of  results  Dr.  Rand's  work 
may  have  been  from  a  religous  point  of  view,  it 
was  well  worth  doing  from  other  considerations. 
It  is  not  for  me  to  say  that  there  were  no  good 


MICMAC  INDIANS. 


158 


results ;  evidently  there  were,  but  they  were  dis- 
appointing in  their  meagreness  and  not  propor* 
tioned  to  the  effort  made  to  produce  them. 
Through  the  long  and  difficult  laboi-s  of  Dr. 
Rand,  the  student  of  human  history  has  a  dic- 
tionary of  their  language,  and  a  collection  of 
their  folk-lore  tales,  and  many  items  of  interest 
besides. 

It  is  a  prevailing  notion  that  this  tribe  is  dis- 
appearing, but  the  census  shows  a  steady  in- 
crease, thus :  1851,  there  were  1.056 ;  1861, 
1,407;  1871,1,666;  1881,  2,125;  1892,  2,157.  ' 

It  has  been  a  very  difficult  task  for  the  In- 
dians to  comply  with  the  new  conditions  that 
the  white  man  enforced  upon  them.  Front  ^ime 
reaching  back  thousands  of  years  they  had  been 
hunters  and  fishers.  Even  as  they  walk  on  the 
streets  and  roads  there  is  a  soft  yielding-at-the- 
knee  stealthiness  of  step  that  tells  the  story  of 
their  past  life  in  the  forest.  To  work  the  soil  for 
a  living  is  utterly  foreign  to  their  nature.  In 
fact,  to  settle  down  in  a  place  and  remain  there 
is  contrary  to  their  natural  instincts  as  much  as  it 
would  be  to  a  wild  goose.  They  can  no  longer 
live  by  hunting,  and  even  white  men,  as  a  rule, 
in  Nova  Scotia  find  that  farming  needs  a  good 
deal  of  piecing  out  to  yield  a  living.  The  In- 
dians have  given  up  their  bark  wigwams,  their 


154 


IN  THB  ACADIAN  LAND. 


bows  and  arrows,  and  moccasins  and  blankets, 
and  now  cling  to  the  outskirts  of  the  white  man's 
towns  and  villages,  living  for  the  most  part  in 
huts,  and  using  their  mechanical  aptitude  in 
coopering,  canoe-building  and  basket-making. 
They  act  as  guides  to  hunters  and  fishermen, 
and  in  these  various  ways,  with  a  little  plant- 
ing, manage  to  live  in  a  manner  not  well  calcu- 
lated to  make  the  best  of  them.  They  are  a 
quiet,  orderly  people,  very  hospitable  and  unself- 
ish with  one  another. 

The  Indian  family  on  the  Molega  Road  con- 
sists of  a  widow,  "  Kate  Jeremy,  **  and  her  mar- 
ried son  and  child,  and  an  unmarried  son.  They 
live  in  a  snug,  clean  cottage,  have  quite  a  farm, 
keep  oxen  and  a  horse,  are  very  industrious, 
sober  people.  Even  with  them  the  old  ingrained 
tendencies  and  dispositions  crop  out  in  their 
canoe-building,  moose-hunting  and  fishing  —  oc- 
cupations that  demand  some  of  their  time. 

What  the  future  of  this  tribe  will  be  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  tell  with  certainty ;  but  one  may  be  sure 
that  they  will  not  come  into  close  competition 
witli  the  whites  in  any  trade  or  business ;  most 
probable  that  they  will  long  continue  to  exist 
as  a  separate  people,  retaining  their  language 
but  losing  their  peculiar  customs.  They  are  not 
long-lived,  and  a  large  proportion  of  them  die 


MICMAC  INDIANS. 


165 


young.  Consumption  carries  away  many  of 
them.  Strong  drink  has  proved  a  great  curse 
to  them,  in  even  a  greater  degree  than  to  white 
men.  They  have  taken  kindly  to  the  white 
man's  vices,  and  his  virtues  of  steady  industrj' 
and  thriftiness  have  been  largely  neglected.  Al- 
though they  live  in  houses  and  cook  on  stoves, 
and  sleep  on  bedsteads  and  sit  on  chaii-s,  and 
wear  our  cut  of  garments,  still  they  are  bom 
children  of  the  forests,  and  all  their  dispositions 
and  aptitudes  go  back  to  the  old  conditions  of 
the  rude  hunter  life  of  their  forefathers. 

The  question  is  often  asked,  From  whence 
came  the  Indians  ?  A  gieat  deal  of  study  and 
laborious  research  has  been  given  to  the  matter, 
but  as  yet  there  is  no  sure  answer.  It  is  most 
probable  that  they  originally  came  from  Asia, 
entering  in  the  vicinity  of  Behring  Straits. 
Their  faces,  complexion  and  language  favor 
this  view.  The  indications  are  that  they  were 
not  the  first  people  who  lived  on  this  Continent. 


PUFF-BALLS,  TOADSTOOLS  AND 
THAT  SORT  OF  THING. 


"  Thk  grisly  toadstool  grown  there  mought  I  see 
And  loathed  paddock  lording  on  the  same."  —  Spknseb. 

I  WANT  to  say  a  word  for  these  overlooked, 
half-despised  commonplaces  of  nature. 
"  Puff-balls  "  are  known  on  sight  by  all  fre- 
quentei-s  of  fields  and  pastures  and  rural  road- 
sides. Country  boys  find  some  amusement  in 
squeezing  the  "  smoke "  out  of  them.  They 
are  looked  upon  as  things  that  grow  without 
seed  or  root,  but  come  up  at  night  in  a  hurry, 
wherever  they  will.  In  England  they  were  long 
regarded  as  something  not  good.  A  common 
name  for  them  is  the  "  Devil's  snuff-box,  "  also 
**  Puck's  fist "  or  «  Puck-ball "  —  and  Puck  here 
is  only  another  word  for  "  Old  Fellow." 

So  far  is  this  dainty  thing  from  being  a 
"  Devil's  snuff-box  "  that  it  is  a  veritable  casket 
of  wondera.  It  would  require  a  large  book  to 
explain  and  illustrate  them  all,  but  we  will  call 


PUPP-BALL8  AND  TOADSTOOLS. 


167 


a 
let 
Ito 


attention  to  some  of  them.  In  the  first  place, 
let  it  be  understood  that  this  puff-ball  is  one 
of  the  great  Fungus  family,  wherein  are  all 
toadstools,  mushrooms,  mildews,  black-knot,  po- 
tato-blight, rusts,  etc. 

The  puff-ball  is  not  a  freak  of  nature,  but 
the  seed-vessel  of  a  low  order  of  plants.  When 
it  first  appears  as  a  small  solid  ball  breaking 
through  the  soil  then  the  real  plant  may  be 
found  running  in  white  threads  through  the 
ground.  These  grow  with  great  rapidity,  and  at 
the  proper  time  they  put  out  into  the  light  this 
tiny  globe,  that  is  fed  from  the  roots  and  grows 
with  astonishing  vigor  and  rapidity.  In  four  or 
five  days  it  has  reached  an  inch  or  two  in  di- 
ameter, changed  inside  from  a  clear  white  pulp 
to  a  sack  of  purple-brown  powder.  It  has 
shrivelled  up  at  the  base,  burst  open  at  the  top, 
broken  away  from  its  anchorage,  become  the 
sport  of  the  winds,  breathing  from  its  tattered 
chimney  little  clouds  of  dust,  until  decay  fin- 
ishes its  existence.  All  this  has  a  meaning. 
There  is  method  in  it  from  start  to  finish,  and 
it  is  the  privilege  of  the  human  mind  to  inves- 
tigate and  imderstand  it,  in  a  measure  at  least. 
If  we  breathe  on  a  bit  of  glass  and  then  force 
the  smoke  of  the  puff-ball  against  it  till  there  is 
a  little  cloud  on  the  glass,  and  place  it  under 


168 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


a  microscope  of  fairly  good  power,  we  shall 
see  that  this  dust  is  altogether  made  up  of 
regular-shaped  bodies  with  little  tails  to  them. 
Under  very  high  magnifying  instruments  and 
in  skilful  hands  these  little  bodies  are  found 
to  be  a  naked  kind  of  seeds  with  no  embryos, 
called  spores,  and  the  tail  is  really  a  wing ;  and 
a  common  puff-ball  as  large  as  a  small  apple 
contains  not  less  than  ten  millions  of  these 
seeds,  and  eveiy  one  of  them  would  grow  if  it 
had  a  favorable  opportunity.  The  fact  that 
there  are  so  many  indicates  the  difficulties  of 
getting  a  footing  in  the  world.  The  living  or- 
ganism under  ground,  the  mycelium,  pushes  this 
little  globe  outside  and  stuffs  it  with  millions 
of  seed  spores,  all  winged  for  the  air,  fills  it 
with  gases  till  it  bursts  away  an  opening  for 
them  to  escape,  cuts  it  off  from  its  rootage, 
that  the  winds  may  sport  with  it  and  thus  the 
seeds  be  sown  far  away  from  the  grounds  al- 
ready occupied  by  its  kind.  The  human  mind 
cannot  conceive  or  in  any  way  adequately  com- 
prehend the  energy  and  intelligent  action  in 
that  little  ball,  that  within  a  few  days  brought 
forth  so  many  millions  of  spores,  so  minute 
that  the  naked  eye  cannot  see  them,  only  as 
dust  or  smoke,  and  yet  so  made,  that  once 
lodged  where  soil,  and  moisture,  and  heat,  are 


PUFF-BALLS  AND  TOADSTOOLS. 


169 


favorable,  each  one  will  become  the  centre  of 
such  living  activities  that  all  about  it  the  earth 
will  respond  to  its  call  and  myriad  million  atoms 
will  come  trooping  to  its  demand  in  order  that 
it  may  grow  and  furnish  other  "  puff-balls  '* 
while  the  earth  endures.  The  sun  is  a  globe 
fourteen  hundred  thousand  times  larger  than 
this  earth,  and  we  know  something  of  its  sub- 
stance, and  the  dimensions  are  very  great,  and 
nations  have  worshipped  it  as  the  fountain  of 
light  and  the  giver  of  life  ;  but,  after  all,  one 
may  find  in  this  little  gray-skinned  ball  the 
evidences  of  vital  powers  intelligently  fashion- 
ing in  a  few  hours  more  of  these  wonderful 
seeds  than  there  are  stars  within  the  whole 
range  of  the  best  telescope  !  The  human  mind 
is  startled  and  amazed  in  the  presence  of  such 
microscopic  marvels,  and  the  night-sky,  lit  with 
many  million  suns,  as  it  surely  is,  does  not  de- 
mand a  grander  cause  for  its  existence  than 
this  tiny  sphere  at  our  feet,  stuffed  with  millions 
of  living  germs  wherein  are  held  the  latent 
forces  that  will  reproduce  their  kind  when  oppor- 
tunity offers. 

I  make  such  comment  as  this  because  I  am 
persuaded  that  the  supreme  benefit  of  all  nat- 
ural-history studies  lies  in  tlieir  power  to  arouse 
the  faculties  to  considerations  that  take  hold  on 


160 


IN  THB  AOADIAN   LAND. 


realities  that  outrank  the  material  objects  that 
suggest  them. 

We  have  at  least  two  common  species  of 
puff-balls.  One  is  brownish-white,  with  a  short 
stem,  and  somewhat  pear-shaped  and  warty; 
this  is  the  Lycoperdon  gemmatum.  The  other 
rests  close  on  the  ground,  is  wliite,  and  a  little 
warty ;  this  is  the  Lycoperdon  saccotum.  They 
are  both  good  food  when  properly  cooked  and 
plucked  in  season.  They  should  be  gathered 
when  fresh,  while  the  inside  is  pure  white,  cut 
in  slices  and  fried  in  butter.  Many  good  judges 
of  such  things  prefer  them  to  eggs. 

Now  we  will  take  up  another  branch  of  this 
Fungus  family.  The  toadstools  are  known  to 
all  who  "take  their  walks  abroad."  There  is 
one  group  or  family  of  which  there  are  many 
members  common  all  about  us.  These  are  the 
Agarics,,  and  the  common  mushroom  of  the  ta- 
ble and  market  belongs  here.  They  are  shaped 
like  an  umbrella.  On  the  under  side  of  the 
cap,  or  pileua,  are  tlie  gills,  arranged  around  the 
stem,  like  spokes  of  a  wheel.  When  it  is  just 
showing  itself  through  the  earth  it  is  a  tiny 
ball,  but  if  we  cut  it  in  halves  the  indications 
of  the  umbrella-shape  will  be  seen.  When  fully 
out  of  the  soil  there  is  a  thin  veil  drawn  over 
the  gills,  and  it  soon  breaks,  and  shrivels  up 


PUFF-BALLS  AND  TOADSTOOLS. 


161 


around  the  stem,  and  remains  a  good  mark  of 
this  family  oi  Agarics.  The  toadstools  are  but 
the  seed- bearing  organs  of  this  cell  alar  crypto- 
gamic  plant,  that  flourishes  in  the  dark  soil  in 
the  form  of  rootlets  and  threads.  The  spores, 
or  seeds,  are  formed  in  the  gills  by  millions  and 
continually  shed,  but  we  do  not  see  them,  and 
the  lightest  breath  of  air  carries  them  away. 
However,  it  is  an  easy  matter  to  get  a  view  of 
them  in  this  way:  slice  off  the  cap  and  care- 
fully place  it  on  a  bit  of  black  paper,  or  even 
brown,  and  cover  it  over  with  a  dish,  and  let  it 
remain  for  a  few  houre.  Upon  examination 
you  will  find  that  the  spores  have  dropped 
upon  the  paper,  forming  a  beautiful  wheel  as 
each  gill  threw  down  its  own  portion  directly 
under  it.  In  some  species  the  spores  are  daz- 
zling white,  in  others  pink,  in  others  golden ; 
but  in  all,  when  under  a  good  microscope,  can 
be  seen  beauty  and  elegance  of  finish,  as  if  each 
one  was  the  pride  of  some  master  eye  and  hand. 
These  wheel  patterns  are  so  beautiful  that  one 
may  preserve  them  for  the  pleasure  of  looking 
at  them.  This  is  easily  done  by  gumming  the 
paper  with  a  little  mucilage  and  allowing  it  to 
dry,  and  placing  on  the  top  of  the  specimen  a 
piece  of  damp  cloth;  this  will  yield  enough 
moisture   to  make   the  paper  slightly  sticky, 


162 


IN  THE  ACADIAN  LAND. 


i 


and  the  spores  will  be  fixed  where   they  fall 
on  it. 

The  general  impression  is  that  toadstools  are 
poisonous  when  eaten,  but  the  charge  is  too 
sweeping.  There  are  about  two  thousand  spe- 
cies known  and  described.  Out  of  that  number 
less  than  fifty  are  believed  to  be  poisonous,  and 
the  others  are  good  food  and  very  largely  eaten. 
In  Russia,  especially,  almost  all  kinds  are  freely 
eaten.  In  this  province  there  is  the  "  deadly 
Aminita,^  To  make  matters  worse,  this  is  closely 
related  by  family  ties  to  the  edible  mushrooms. 
The  resemblance  has  been  the  death  of  many 
people,  who  were  deceived  by  appearances,  and 
ate  the  poisonous  fraud.  It  is  of  a  medium 
size,  with  a  yellow-rusaet  or  pale-yellow  cap, 
and  a  white  stem  and  gills,  and  when  full  grown 
has  a  shrivelled  veil  furled  about  the  stem.  At 
an  earlier  growth  the  veil  covers  the  gills.  The 
distinguishing  mark  that  brands  it  as  dangerous 
is  not  always,  nor  often,  in  sight.  The  stem 
rises  out  of  a  little  cup  with  ragged  edges: 
this  is  the  sign ;  have  no  further  acquaintance 
with  it,  for  even  the  smell  of  it  is  sickening  to 
some  persons.  We  have  another  that  must  not 
be  eaten.  It  is  known  as  the  Fly-blow  agaric^ 
and  one  may  find  them  in  abundance  —  a  large 
stout  species,  with  a  reddish  or  even  red  and 


PUFF-BALLS  AND  TOADSTOOLS. 


168 


yellowish  cap,  well  covered  with  white  warty 
particles,  resembling  "  fly-blows " ;  this  is  not 
considered  fatally  poisonous,  and  in  some  coun- 
tries it  is  freely  eaten,  after  a  treatment  wHh 
salt.  The  natives  of  Siberia  and  Kamschatka 
manage  to  get  drunk  on  this  species,  and  as  all 
other  intoxicants  are  very  scarce,  and  they  pre- 
fer very  often  to  be  drunk  rather  than  soljer, 
they  consequently  hold  this  species  in  great 
esteem.  I  have  often  noticed  that  our  cattle 
in  the  autumn,  when  there  Is  a  good  crop  of 
toadstools  in  the  woods,  and  they  get  a  taste 
of  them,  become  almost  cmzed  for  more,  and  if 
allowed  to  range  at  large  will  make  a  bee-line 
for  the  place  where  they  grow.  They  seem  to 
prefer  a  very  large  white  species,  and  I  never 
heard  of  any  bad  results  to  them  or  to  those 
who  drank  their  milk.  Our  red  squirrels  eat 
freely  of  a  small  red  mushroom  of  tlie  Agaric 
family.  One  may  often  see  them  scampering 
away  with  a  lunch  in  their  teeth. 

The  bracket  fungus,  that  grows  out  from  the 
sides  of  trees  and  logs  and  stumps,  is  often  more 
than  a  foot  across.  It  is  arranged  on  a  different 
plan  from  toadstools:  there  are  no  gills,  but  on 
the  under  side  there  are  innumerable  holes  run- 
ning up  through  the  latest  annual  growth  ;  they 
are  as  smooth  as  rifle  barrels.     The  spores  are 


164 


IN  THB  ACADIAN  LAND. 


formed  at  the  upper  ends,  and  shot  like  bullets 
into  the  air.  Once  I  had  the  good  fortune  to 
see  this  process  in  full  operation.  The  fungus 
grew  on  the  side  of  a  stump  in  the  woods ;  I 
chanced  to  take  a  rest  on  the  other  side,  and  a 
glint  of  sunshine  fell  across  the  bracket,  that  I 
could  not  see  from  my  position,  but  what  I  did 
notice  was  regular  pulsations  of  brilliant,  glis- 
tening particles,  forming  little  puffs,  like  steam, 
as  they  drifted  across  the  sunbeam  and  vanished 
instantly  in  the  common  daylight.  Before  look- 
ing for  the  cause  I  guessed  rightly  that  it  was 
a  fungus  sowing  its  spores  by  the  tens  of  mil- 
lions, and  they  were  carried  away  on  the  sum- 
mer air.  The  pulsation,  or  rhythmical  action, 
must  have  been  in  the  mechanism  of  the  object 
itself,  —  all  its  little  guns  fired  at  once. 

It  would  be  "  o'er  long  a  tale  to  tell  "  of  the 
various  forms  taken  by  these  things.  They  pro- 
duce the  dry-rot  of  timber,  the  "punk"  of  pines, 
the  touchwood  of  the  yellow  birch.  They  at- 
tack dead  trunks  and  limbs  and  help  to  reduce 
them  to  their  elements.  Hardly  a  living  spe- 
cies of  animal  that  does  not  suffer  from  this 
great  fungus  tribe.  They  particularly  seize 
upon  insects  of  many  kinds,  entering  their 
bodies  by  various  channels.  Once  there,  the 
spore  germinates  and  grows,  at  the  expense  of 


PUFF-BALLS  AND  TOADSTOOLS. 


165 


13 
^3 


its  host.  Death  is  the  certain  result.  Our 
house- dies  come  to  grief  in  this  way,  and  the 
pity  is  that  more  of  them  did  not  meet  with  a 
like  fate.  We  may  often  see  them  on  neglected 
window  panes,  dead  or  dying  in  the  centre  of 
a  wliitish  cloud ,  this  cloud  is  made  of  mildew 
tlireads.  After  filling  the  body  of  the  fly  they 
grow  and  flourish  outside  —  a  purely  fungus 
growth  from  a  mildew  spore  lodged  in  the  in- 
sect. Caterpillai-s  in  various  parts  of  the  world 
are  carried  off  in  this  way.  In  Australia  one 
may  see  living  caterpillars  crawling  with  a  stalk 
of  fungus,  more  than  an  inch  in  height,  grow- 
ing from  the  head,  and  sure  to  kill.  Of  this 
fungus  group,  by  some  lines  of  relationship,  are 
the  microbes  and  bacilli  that  are  the  causes  of 
diphtheria,  consumption,  fevere,  cholem,  and 
most  other  diseases  of  men  and  beasts.  We  lit- 
erally have  to  contend  with  powera  of  the  air, 
an  invisible  host  of  living  cells  that  enter  our 
lungs  at  every  breath,  flourish  in  our  blood, 
colonize  in  our  muscles  and  bones  and  teeth, 
and  there  multiply  by  growing  and  breaking 
in  pieces.  Without  mouths  they  eat,  without 
stomaclis  they  digest,  without  organs  of  gener- 
ation they  multiply  by  myriads  in  a  day.  If  it 
were  not  that  some  feed  on  other  kinds  we 
would  fare  worse  than  we  do.     To  have  lived 


«p 


r 


166 


IN   THE   ACADIAN   LAND. 


at  all  amid  such  enemies  is  a  marvel  in  itself ; 
and  if  it  were  not  that  most  of  them  do  us 
no  harm  and  some  of  them  help  us,  the  end  of 
mankind  could  not  be  far  away.  This  is  at 
first  glance  a  long  bit  away  from  puff-balls,  but 
my  text  added  '*  and  that  sort  of  thing." 

Here,  then,  is  a  brief  essay  on  a  subject  de- 
serving attention,  and  my  only  hope  is  that 
some  reader  will  be  stimulated  to  study  in  this 
promising  and  delightful  field.  Indeed,  I  may 
say  in  this  closing  sentence  of  ray  little  book, 
that  the  object  nearest  my  heai-t  in  writing  it 
has  been  to  arouse  in  seme  small  measure  an 
enthusiasm  for  out-of-cloor  studies,  that  are  so 
full  of  health  and  happiness,  with  ever-widen- 
ing visions  of  nature  and  life. 


Si 

i 


self; 
3  us 
d  of 
s  at 
,  but 


1  de- 

that 

this 

may 

3ok, 

git 

I  an 

)  so 

ien- 


